News | May 31, 2017

The Independent Online Booksellers Association Offers Scholarship for Collectors

The Independent Online Booksellers Association would like to contribute to the continuing education of book collectors. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that we will again offer to a book collector a scholarship in the amount of $750 to be used at one of the several book seminars offered in the U.S. or the U.K. You are not required to be a bookseller or a member of any organization to apply.

Many of our members have been to the seminars listed below, and always find book collectors present among the booksellers and librarians. If you have ever thought of attending we hope to make it a bit easier for you.

IOBA awards scholarships to support the professional development of its member booksellers. We consider the scholarships to be an investment in the future of bookselling, and we would like to include you too!

The seminars eligible for scholarships include:

Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS). CABS is an intensive program on all aspects of bookselling held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA for one week each summer.

Rare Book School (RBS, Charlottesville, VA, USA). RBS courses focus on specific aspects of book history, bibliography, printing and book arts. Most of these week-long courses are offered in the summer in Charlottesville, but others are offered at other venues around the East Coast and at other times of the year.

California Rare Book School (CALRBS, various locations in CA, USA). CALRBS courses are also similarly focused and are week-long courses covering a broad range of topics, from the history, identification and preservation of motion picture materials to the history of typography.

York Antiquarian Book Seminar (YABS), to be held in York, England in September. YABS is a three-day intensive seminar modeled after CABS but tailored for booksellers in the UK.

London Rare Books School (LRBS). Two week-long intensive sessions on specific topics about antiquarian material are offered each summer at the University of London, England. Courses have included A History of Maps and Mapping, The Medieval Book, and Children’s Books.

Financial need is not a criterion; IOBA will choose a winner based on merit. Please tell us a little about yourself, include contact information, and let us know about your collecting focus (not more than two pages, please). Tell us which seminar you would like to attend and why. We also ask that the recipient write about the experience following attendance for possible publication in The Standard, The Journal of the Independent Online Booksellers Association

Completed entries must be received via email no later than June 4, 2017. Applications should be sent to: scholarshipcontest@ioba.org. Please include “IOBA scholarship application” in the subject header of all emails. The winner or winners will be chosen by the IOBA Scholarship Committee, and will be notified by telephone and by email by June 15, 2017. More information can be found https://www.ioba.org/pages/members-area/scholarships-for-members/