The Area 53 Intergroup Office Managers discussed this at our recent quarterly meeting because some of us, especially Patty at COGF and James at LAI in Lancaster, have had so many complaints about the dust cover being gone and the hard cover not being the solid blue that it used to be for anonymity. We as a committee approached Mac, our Area 53 Chair and asked that there be discussion at the upcoming Area 53 Assembly. Here is what Barbara M. submitted to Mac.
To Area 53 Officers
A concern over the new dust jacket/jacketless Big Book was brought up at this September’s Intergroup Central Office of AA Seminar, two of our office managers reported. See the attached transcript of the discussion which included, “many people express that they wish the fourth edition, without the dust sleeve, looked like the third edition, just navy blue, especially newer people who are concerned about anonymity.” (see attachment #2)
We would like to see this brought up at our next Assembly on December 14, 2025 with the possibility of submitting it as an Agenda item to be considered by the 2026 General Conference.
As office managers of our Area’s intergroup offices, we sense this is an important issue to our members.
From Intergroup Liaison Committee
Barbara Montgomery, Chair
For reference -Copy of the Presentation and communication at the ICOAA Office Manager’s Seminar 2025 and that I go to every year:
2025 ICOAA Seminar- Memphis, TN- GSO & AAWS Presentation
Audio File Time Stamp– 1:15:49
Tom- St. Louis– “My name is Tom, St. Louis, Missouri. I’m the manager. I’ve got about six community questions that we make up when we sit at one of our desks. The one on the front is the one that people who walk into the office ask, not the service junkies, but the more regular folks. It’s about the dust sleeve being gone. I understand that there was inflation and lots of big changes in printing, and maybe it was because of the dust sleeve. But many people express that they wish the fourth edition, without the dust sleeve, looked like the third edition, just navy blue, especially newer people who are concerned about anonymity. I wonder what the cost would be to have one that has the dust sleeve incorporated and one that’s just dark blue. But it is something that people who are buying new books for the first time consistently ask me ever since we got the dust sleeve.”
Malini Singh- Director of Operations– “So, thank you. The question is about the dust sleeves, the absence of them, and the anonymity of the new edition. I’m going to call John, who was part of the publishing.”
John W. General Service Trustee– “I was on the publishing committee and part of those discussions, and there was, you know, it was supply chain issues. There were delays in the—Ed Nyland, who’s the head of print production, came in and reviewed everything with us and, like, explained it’s going to take this long and be this expensive if we do the way we’ve been doing it. We’re able to get the B1 back on the shelves if we do this instead. So, it was a—so, I’m telling you why it happened. So, in response to that, we were looking at, you know, do we change things? Do we try to go back? What are our options there? At that point in time, the 5th edition looked like it was maybe going to be going to the conference this past year. So, I’m going to say we kicked it down the road a little bit. We thought, like, why try to, like, make another correction here when there might be a 5th edition and we could address it there. So, that was where it left off. It didn’t go beyond that as far as taking that information into consideration when it comes to the 5th edition because we heard those concerns from lots of quarters as well as, you know, that people were coming up with solutions.”
Tom- St. Louis– “So, I want to make sure I’m clear. The question isn’t, can we get the dust sleeve back? The question is, can we get a more anonymous-looking book, like a dark blue one instead of one that has the dust sleeve incorporated?”
John W. General Service Trustee– “Yeah, so I’m sorry, to be clearer, we discussed whether or not we would change what the cover looked like, and the decision was to keep it the way it is and really look at it when it comes to the fifth edition, at how to anonymize or not, because it would be a different cover than what’s on the fourth edition. Thanks.”
That is all that is discussed about the Dust Jackets. They move on to service manuals after this
Love and Service, James
For context there is a Conference Policy that can seem to allow AAWS Literature Committee to make these decisions as needed without bringing them to the Conference floor for Membership approval.
General Service Conference
Conference-Approved Literature Policy
“While the General Service Conference (G.S.C.) must approve all new Conference-approved literature and any substantive changes to existing literature, it delegates certain limited editorial authority to the A.A. World Services, Inc. (A.A.W.S.) Publishing Department (sometimes in consultation with the Trustees’ Literature Committee) to handle updates without requiring a full Conference vote every time.”
The delegated editorial categories generally fall into:
“Minor Editorial Changes: This covers items that correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, typographical errors, or minor style inconsistencies that do not alter the meaning or intent of the text.”
“Routine Updates: This includes changes to reflect current facts, such as: Updating dates, statistics, or financial figures (e.g., maximum individual contributions, or pie charts in service material like the “Self-Support” pamphlet). Updating contact information or G.S.O. internal practices described in service material and guidelines.”
“Inclusivity and Respectful Language (Non-Substantive): The G.S.C. often approves a mandate for a change in principle (like moving toward more inclusive language) and delegates the application of that principle to the Publishing Department for specific, minor word swaps in pamphlets. For example, replacing a non-inclusive or outdated term with a more contemporary or respectful one, provided it doesn’t fundamentally change the core message (such as the Conference recommending replacing “opposite sex” with “partner” in a specific instance, or replacing “inmate” with “person in custody,” and then delegating the task of ensuring those updates are made consistently).”
“Format and Presentation Changes: Revisions to the physical presentation of literature, like updating a cover design, changing the font, or adjusting the layout, typically fall under the Publishing Department’s purview, as long as the text itself remains Conference-approved.”
“In summary: The delegation is primarily for housekeeping, technical corrections, and the execution of previously approved general mandates that do not require a fresh group conscience on the principles of A.A. or its program.”
Since the book was changed we have gotten consistent complaints on a regular basis. We assumed, not knowing for sure that the general AA membership had voted on the change at a Conference and that that was that. Once we heard that it was not a Conference vote, we got curious and many Office Managers across the country and Canada are supposedly bringing the issue to their respective Areas to see if it is indeed the issue that it appears to be to the AA Membership to have it go to the Conference for a vote about the cover of the upcoming Fifth Edition of the AA Big Book.
So, after all of this information, if your group wants a voice in the matter of the cover, whether it be jacketed or jacketless and what color it should be of the Fifth Edition of the Big Book then get your GRS involved in the Assembly December 14, 2025 and the Mini-Conference March 8, 2026: (they don’t have to stay the whole weekend).