Binc Announces Winners of 2019 Macmillan Booksellers Professional Development Scholarships

The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation has announced the nine booksellers from underrepresented backgrounds who are the winners of this year’s Macmillan Booksellers Professional Development Scholarships, which will enable them to attend their fall regional independent bookseller association trade shows.

The scholarship, which is sponsored by Binc and Macmillan Publishers, is intended to encourage a greater number of individuals from diverse groups to choose and/or continue careers in bookselling. A panel composed of Binc board members, booksellers, bookstore owners, and publishers selected one winner for each regional association. The 2019 winners are as follows:

• Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association (GLIBA): Kathy Burnette from The Brain Lair Bookstore in South Bend, IN
• Midwest Independent Booksellers Association (MIBA): BrocheAroe Fabian from River Dog Book Co. in Beaver Dam, WI
• Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA): Denise Chavez from Casa Camino Real in Las Cruces, NM
• New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA): Bennard Fajardo from Politics and Prose in Washington, DC
• Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA): Seth Katz from The Booksmith in San Francisco, CA
• New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA): Read Davidson from Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, MA
• Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA): Markie Rustad from Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo, WA
• Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA): Amanda Qassar from Warwick’s in La Jolla, CA
• Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA): Deanna Bailey from Story on the Square in McDonough, GA

Each winner will receive a $500 scholarship to help cover the cost of attending their fall regional show.

The Macmillan Diversity & Inclusion Council and Binc’s diversity task force created the Macmillan Booksellers Professional Development Scholarship Program in 2017 as a way to provide booksellers from underrepresented communities direct access to a key resource within the book industry, the fall regional shows.

Applicants, who included people of color, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities, anonymously completed short essay questions, which were evaluated by a panel of judges. Winners were selected from each of the nine regions represented by independent bookseller associations.

“We were incredibly impressed by the quality of applications for this year’s scholarship. It is heartening to see the passion our applicants have for bookselling and spreading acceptance and tolerance in their communities,” said Malati Chavali, Macmillan Diversity & Inclusion Co-Chair and VP, Publishing Strategy Operations.

The panel of judges included Malati Chavali (Macmillan), Jeanne Costello (Maria’s Bookshop) from Binc’s Program Committee, and Ken White (Query Books) from Binc’s Board of Directors.

Binc Executive Director Pam French said, “We are happy to work with Macmillan to bring this opportunity to booksellers for the third year. This popular program not only furthers individual booksellers’ careers by helping them attend their regional trade shows, the program promotes a more inclusive and diverse industry by giving an opportunity to individuals who are traditionally underrepresented at the shows. Congratulations to all the scholarship recipients. We hope you enjoy attending your regional trade show.”