Ingram Creates Winter Institute Scholarships for Emerging Leaders

Ingram Book Company/Ingram Publisher Services is sponsoring six scholarships to help send emerging leaders in the independent bookstore community to the American Booksellers Association's Fourth Annual Winter Institute.

"There's no more essential element to our industry than the independent bookseller," said Dan Sheehan, vice president of sales for Ingram Book Company/Ingram Publisher Services. "For young booksellers who are passionate about their career path, the teaching and mentoring opportunities of this program can truly be life changing. Emerging Leaders is dedicated to supporting the finest talents at the early stage of their career and, quite frankly, we wanted to help," he explained.

At Ingram's invitation, members of the Emerging Leaders Council met at the end of August in LaVergne, Tennessee, with Sheehan, Lewis Pennock, Ingram's director of Consumer Direct Fulfillment, and Mary McCarthy, the director of Merchandising, to discuss ways in which Ingram could help ensure the future of independent bookselling.

"When we sat down with Dan Sheehan to tell him about the Emerging Leaders project, we explained that we wanted to empower younger booksellers to develop professionally and find a place in the industry, just as we've begun to do ourselves," said Emerging Leaders Council member Jessica Stockton Bagnulo of McNally Jackson Booksellers in New York. "We all agreed that the Winter Institute was one of the most sure-fire ways to get a young bookseller hooked into the resources and relationships that will make their careers and their bookstores better.

"We were thrilled that Ingram wanted to help us by sending youngsters like us to this fantastic industry event. The entire Emerging Leaders Council is extremely grateful to Dan and the Ingram family for making these sponsorships possible. And we can't wait to toast the winners at Winter Institute!"

The Ingram scholarships will enable six booksellers to experience the Winter Institute for the first time. The scholarships cover reasonable transportation costs and up to a three-night stay at the Wi4 host hotel, the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown.

Booksellers can apply directly for the scholarship, or store owners may nominate their employees. Application is via e-mail to the Emerging Leaders Council at [email protected]. The e-mail should identify the candidate, the region, and the store in which she or he works (with contact information). In addition, information should be provided about the candidate's role in the store, his or her feelings about bookselling, the candidate's potential for a long-term bookselling career, and how she or he might benefit from the Winter Institute. Applicants should put "Scholarship" in the e-mail subject line.

Other members of the Emerging Leaders Council who met with Ingram in Tennessee were Jenn Northington of The Kings' English in Salt Lake City, Utah; Jennifer Laughran of Books Inc. in San Francisco; Megan Sullivan of Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Sweet Pea Flaherty of King's Books in Tacoma, Washington; Emily Pullen of Skylight Books in Los Angeles; and Caroline Green of Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina. ABA Education Coordinator Lisa Winn also participated in the meeting.

Under a strategic partnership announced in May 2008, Ingram Book Company/Ingram Publisher Services is underwriting ABA's bookseller education program, including the Winter Institute, for the next three years. --Rosemary Hawkins