CABS-Minnesota is committed to diversity in the used and rare bookselling profession and is currently seeking applications for its 2023 Diverse Voices Fellowship.
Donor Name: Antiquarian Book School Foundation (ABSF)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Fellowship
Deadline: 11/06/2022
Details:
CABS-Minnesota believes that a diverse and inclusive book trade will benefit booksellers, collectors, and the cultural heritage community at large by expanding perspectives and by encouraging new collaborations. They recognize that many talented professionals in the bookselling and cultural heritage fields do not see themselves reflected in the traditional rare book trade. As one step toward centering non-dominant perspectives, CABS-Minnesota is building an annual cohort of five individuals who have a strong interest in learning more about selling used and rare books and who have found themselves isolated in or distanced from the bookselling trade by reason of race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and/or income.
Eligibility Criteria
- An eligible applicant will:
- Identify as a person of color, LGBTQ+ person, person with disabilities, person from a low-income background, woman, nonbinary person, and/or trans person. Applications from Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, and other people of color are especially encouraged.
- Be an early- or mid-career bookseller or a person with a strong interest in participating in a program of professional and career development focused on used and rare bookselling. Library, archives, and museum professionals, as well as private collectors and members of the book arts community, are eligible to apply if they have an interest in learning about the practice of selling used and rare books.
- Be a resident of the United States.
- Be a minimum of 18 years of age.
- Previous applicants to CABS scholarships or fellowships who meet the above requirements are eligible to apply. In addition, although preference will be given to applicants who have never previously attended the CABS bookselling seminar, alumni of the seminar who meet the above requirements are eligible to apply.
- Multiple individuals working at the same bookstore or institution may apply. However, only one individual per bookstore or institution may be selected as a Fellow in a given year.
Fellowship Activities
- The CABS-Minnesota Diverse Voices Fellowship will include the following activities, scheduled to occur between January and September 2023. With the exceptions of the two-day field school and week-long seminar, the average time commitment for the fellowship is roughly 2-3 hours per month:
- Fellows will begin the program by meeting one another virtually and participating in a fellowship program orientation.
- Fellows will meet one-on-one with CABS-Minnesota’s Curriculum Coordinator to discuss their fellowship goals.
- Fellows will participate in a virtual reception with members of the CABS-Minnesota faculty and board, as well as alumni of the fellowship program.
- Working closely with the Diverse Voices Fellows, CABS-Minnesota will design a custom, two-day field school in Atlanta, Georgia, for spring 2023 that will allow for an in-depth exploration of the used and rare bookselling profession. The program may include meeting local booksellers for a behind-the-scenes view of their work and/or visiting private or institutional collections. Travel, housing, and meal costs will be covered by the fellowship.
- Fellows will attend the CABS seminar on selling used, rare, and antiquarian books, scheduled to occur in Minnesota from July 9 to 15, 2023, with the cost of tuition, travel, housing, and meals covered by the fellowship. A sample program from a previous CABS seminar can be found here.
- CABS-Minnesota will facilitate opportunities for networking and community-building among fellows and seminar alumni in virtual spaces.
- Fellows will have the opportunity to apply what they have learned during the fellowship by participating in a final project, such as issuing a sales catalog or selling books at a virtual book fair.
- For fellows who work with materials by or about diverse communities, there may be opportunities to engage in conversations about the practices of sourcing, describing, and selling such materials, including emerging ethical practices.
- Owing to the ever-evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, please note that in-person fellowship events are subject to change.
For more information, visit ABSF.