2016 Binc Higher Education Scholarship Winners Named

The recipients of the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation’s 2016 Higher Education Scholarships, announced on June 2, include 27 current bookstore employees/owners and their dependents as well as former Borders Group employees and their dependents. A total of $109,000 was awarded, including two $10,000 scholarships, 24 scholarships of $3,500 each, and a $5,000 Karl Pohrt Memorial Scholarship, granted to the employee of an independent bookstore who is a non-traditional student or who has overcome learning adversity.

“Reading through the thank-you notes from the Binc scholarship recipients always reminds me that supporting Binc allows anyone in the book industry to directly help frontline booksellers, book shop owners, and, ultimately, their communities,” said Binc Executive Director Pam French. “Congratulations to all of the college scholarship winners!”

This year’s $10,000 scholarship winners are Molly Rott, a Spanish and pre-physician’s assistant major at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, who is associated with the former Borders Group; and Kevin Tenny, a chemical engineering major at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, who is associated with Mardel Christian Bookstore in Overland Park, Kansas.

The recipient of the $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 Tracy Phillips, an international studies major at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon, who is associated with Third Street Books in McMinnville, Oregon. 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 2016 – 2017 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 the 2017 Higher Education Scholarship application process will be released early in 2017.