ABA’s scholarship program aims to create a more equitable path to entry for booksellers who have or hope to make a career in the industry, and/or booksellers who might not be able to attend otherwise. The Children's Institute provides the valuable opportunity to engage in meaningful professional development and education, in addition to networking and community-building opportunities for booksellers, authors, and publisher reps.

ABA is committed to awarding scholarships to booksellers from all backgrounds. To assist the scholarship awarding process, we invite you to share what informs your experience as a bookseller and an individual, and most importantly, why you feel you should be awarded a scholarship to Children’s Institute.

Scholarship recipients receive waived event fees to in-person Children’s Institute, a comped hotel room during the Institute, and up to $500 reimbursement for travel to and from the Institute. 

• Booksellers from ABA member stores. 

• Stores that have been awarded a scholarship to Winter Institute 2022 are eligible to apply for a Children’s Institute scholarship.

• Stores with a bookseller representative on the ABC Advisory Council are not eligible for scholarships. If you are unsure if your store has a representative on ABC Advisory Council, you can check here.

• In-person attendance at the 2022 Children’s Institute is limited to individuals who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Session recordings will be made available on BookWeb.org after the event for individuals who are not fully vaccinated, those who are unable to attend because their children are not fully vaccinated, as well as all other ABA members who are unable to attend for any reason.

Applicants will need to sign in with their BookWeb username. If you do not have a BookWeb username you can request one with this form. 

The Children's Institute Scholarship Application can be found below.