The American Booksellers Association has partnered with the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc Foundation) to provide a financial assistance program that will benefit employees of independent book stores with financial emergencies.

Follow this link to learn about the program. ABA book store member employees who are experiencing hard times caused by anything from medical bills to natural disasters can apply for tax-free grants through the fund.
“Our goal is to stabilize the household finances so that an emergency situation does not overwhelm the household and spiral into a more extreme financial need,” explained Pam French, executive director of the Binc Foundation, in a statement. “It is our vision to be an organization dedicated to book people helping book people.”


The Binc Foundation, previously named the Borders Foundation, is a nonprofit that launched in 1996 to help Borders employees in need. After Borders went bankrupt last year, the foundation expanded its mission to help book store employees across the industry. Since it began, the organization has distributed more than $5 million in assistance.
The ABA Binc program will run from October 2012 until September 2013.