You truly make a difference!

SIBA is grateful to all our industry and author friends who support our booksellers year round, through participation in our programming, direct support of stores, and sponsoring of scholarships to fund bookseller travel to in-person events. Your generosity means so much to SIBA booksellers!

We want to bring special attention to the sponsors of several specific scholarships and awards for their generosity in 2022. Because of you, SIBA was able to provide assistance to every bookseller who asked for support to attend one of our events. Attending a SIBA event can be life-changing; professional development, networking opportunities, mentoring, and friendships happen and deepen. You truly made a difference!

Event Sponsorships: Thank you to Scholastic, Sourcebooks, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Blackstone, Ingram, Binc, Shelf Awareness, and Publishers Weekly for supporting booksellers through event sponsorships in Winston-Salem, NC and New Orleans, LA, and through our partnership with NAIBA in New Voices New Rooms .  Your funding supported multiple booksellers with lodging and travel needs.

The Wanda Jewell Scholarship Fund for Bookseller Professional Development: Created in 2022 in honor of our much-beloved former Executive Director, this scholarship is funded by authors, and provides financial support for bookseller professional development through education and networking at in-person SIBA-sponsored events. Friends & Fiction (NYT-bestselling authors Patti Callahan Henry, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Kristin Harmel) stepped forward to be this year’s author supporters and we thank them so much! Their funding helped support booksellers attending our gathering in Winston-Salem, NC, and in New Orleans, LA.

Macmillan Booksellers Professional Development Scholarship: This scholarship provides funds to booksellers traditionally underrepresented within the industry to attend their regional associations' fall trade show or gathering. This year’s award went to Krystle Dandridge of The Book Bar in Richmond, Virginia, who attended our NOLA gathering in September.

George Keating Memorial Scholarship: This scholarship provides $250 to a bookseller in the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA), Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), and New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA) for the purpose of professional development. Rachel Ford of the Bookshop in Nashville, Tennessee is the SIBA recipient of the George Keating Memorial Scholarship and attended our NOLA gathering..

The Nancy Olson Bookseller Award: This award honors the legacy of Nancy Olson, founder of Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC. Nancy was  a tireless advocate for writers, especially new writers looking for a chance in the publishing world, and a beloved bookseller and colleague.  An anonymous admirer of Nancy’s, in conjunction with SIBA, awards two $2000 gifts to special booksellers in her memory each December.  The 2022 winners will be announced in the next two weeks.

The McCoy Grant for Bookseller Writers: In 2022, New York Times bestselling author Sarah McCoy established two $1500 grants for unpublished southern bookseller women/nonbinary writers.  Recipients will be awarded at the 2023 New Voices New Rooms in-person conference in August.

SIBA is always appreciative and welcoming  of funds to support our booksellers, to provide travel assistance and education, including DEI training. If you’d like to support our booksellers in 2023, please reach out to SIBA (lindamarie@sibaweb.com) and we’ll talk about the best ways to do that. SIBA also has a donation link that earmarks your donation for one of our funds.