Scholarships
Directors' Scholarship Fund
- 2011 Scholarship Application Form (PDF)
Persons seeking RBS scholarships submit applications each fall without reference to any particular RBS course that they wish to take, and scholarships are awarded without reference to admission to any particular course. Those awarded scholarships will have credit, good for two years, that they can then use to pay for any course to which they are thereafter admitted. Participation in the scholarship program implies acceptance of the scholarship Terms and Conditions.
In making its awards, the RBS Scholarship Committee will give special consideration to applicants toward the beginning of their professional careers, or who represent under-served communities (or whose institutions do so). The Committee is especially interested in supporting first-time attendees. For more details about the scholarship program, see the Frequently Asked Questions page.
The current Scholarship Committee comprises:
Gerald Cloud, chair (Clark Librarian, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles); Ian Desai (Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer, South Asian Studies and History, Yale University); Andrew Gaub (Associate, Bruce McKittrick Rare Books); Jennifer Lowe (Rare Book Librarian, Pius XII Memorial Library, Saint Louis University); Amanda Nelsen (Program Director, Rare Book School); and Jessica Pigza (Librarian, Rare Book Division, New York Public Library).
Northern California Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers' of America
Thanks to the generosity of the Northern California Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (NCC/ABAA), Rare Book School (RBS) is pleased to announce an additional scholarship opportunity for its summer and fall courses in 2011. The NCC/ABAA is accepting applications for the George Robert Kane Scholarship, which will provide a scholarship to attend courses offered by Rare Book School, the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar, or California Rare Book School (Los Angeles). These scholarships honor the memory of George Robert Kane (6 October 1913--28 November 2009), and they are designed to promote professionalism and education relevant to the book trade. Note: Applications for the George Robert Kane Scholarship program are due by 5 pm on 9 May 2011.
To apply for this scholarship, please fill out the application form (pdf). Please contact Chapter Secretary, Lee Perron, at lperron@sonic.net with questions.
SHARP-RBS Scholarship
Rare Book School and the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, & Publishing (SHARP) are partnering to offer scholarship opportunities for current graduate students and recent masters and Ph.D. recipients who wish to attend RBS. The SHARP-RBS Scholarship recipients will receive full tuition and a travel/lodging stipend. Graduate students, post-docs, junior faculty, adjunct professors, and those within 5 years of their last awarded degree in any discipline are encouraged to apply.
To apply, please submit an RBS scholarship application by the 30 September 2011 deadline. If you are applying for a Directors' Scholarship you may be eligible for the SHARP-RBS Scholarship. Directors' Scholarship applicants will be considered for the SHARP-RBS Scholarship, so there is no need to apply twice. Terms and conditions are the same as those that apply to the Directors' Scholarship Fund.
Scholarship History
RBS began offering scholarships in 2001 with resources provided by the school's James Davis Scholarship Fund; see below for more about the late James Davis, who was UCLA's Rare Books Librarian and a long-time RBS staff member. In June 2005, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a federal agency, made a substantial grant to RBS to underwrite about 150 full-tuition scholarships, to be given out approximately 50 per year for each the following three years. In 2009, RBS established the Directors' Scholarship Fund in honor of founding director Terry Belanger. In 2011, Rare Book School and the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) collaborated to establish the SHARP-RBS Scholarship Fund, a new program to offer scholarships for graduate students and recent Ph.D.s who wish to attend courses at RBS.
The RBS scholarship fund has received support from William Reese Company, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Book Club of California, Atlas Systems, the Council on Library and Information Resources, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and annual support from the Friends of Rare Book School.
Previous Scholarship Winners