Binc Foundation Announces 2015 Higher Education Scholarship Recipients

The 2015 winners of the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation’s Higher Education Scholarships, announced this week, include 53 current bookstore employees/owners and their dependents as well as former Borders Group employees and their dependents. A total of $200,000 was awarded, including two $10,000 scholarships, the first-ever $5,000 Karl Pohrt Tribute Scholarship, and 50 scholarships valued at $3,500 each.

“Each year I look forward to reading the plans and goals of the Binc Scholarship winners,” said Binc Executive Director Pam French. “Their optimism and ambition is inspirational. This year’s award winners represent bookstores from across the country with a diverse range of areas of study, from writing to social work to technology. Congratulations to all of the students!”

This year’s $10,000 scholarship winners are Brittany Parker, a psychology and education major at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, who is associated with Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vermont; and Wendy Tyree, a biology major at San Diego Mesa College in San Diego, California, who is associated with a former Borders store in La Jolla, California.

The recipient of the inaugural $5,000 scholarship honoring the late Karl Pohrt, the founder and owner of Shaman Drum Bookshop and a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Booksellers Association, is William Rose, a radiologic technology major at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, who is associated with Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California.

The complete list of Binc Foundation scholarship winners can be found here.

Scholarships can be used for tuition, fees, books, supplies, and room and board. Funds may also be used over consecutive years if the student is not able to use the entire award for the 2015 – 2016 academic year.

Selection criteria included financial need, prior academic achievement, leadership involvement (including participation in school and community activities), as well as work experience, career aspirations, and extenuating personal or family circumstances.

Information about how booksellers can apply for the 2016 Higher Education Scholarship Program will be released early in 2016.