With the support of the organization, Shelf Awareness celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation and all the amazing work it has done over a quarter century helping bookstores, booksellers, comic shops and comic shop staff, especially its heroic work during the pandemic.
First, on behalf of the book and comic industries, we must thank the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation for all it has done to help stores and store staff in need, especially since March 2020.
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In its 25-year history, the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation had never encountered a year as challenging as the last one. Lockdowns shut bookstores and comic stores to the public for much of the year--and some are only just reopening. Despite efforts to sell online and curbside, many stores had precipitous drops in sales and staff were furloughed or had their hours cut back. Suddenly many people didn't know how to pay the rent, mortgage or utilities, how to buy food, and how to deal with myriad other expenses. For much of its existence, Binc had focused on helping individuals, primarily booksellers and comic shop staff, who had hardships and emergencies involving health and housing and more. But last year's dire situation called for much more help than ever. In response, the foundation did extraordinary, heroic work, above and beyond its usual amazing efforts. Without Binc, it's hard to imagine where the business would be today.
Consider the numbers. With unprecedented support from people and companies in the book and comic book world, from volunteers, from its own dedicated staff and board, Binc rallied and donated nearly $3 million to stores and individuals in response to the pandemic. Binc gave disaster assistance of more than $1.2 million to 976 bookstores; $987,000 to 643 comic shops; and $734,000 to more than 500 individuals. In all, the amount of grants in just the first eight weeks of the pandemic matched the total of grants given the previous eight years.
More than 100 events raised some $1.4 million. Individuals and authors accounted for 49% of all gifts. The comic community accounted for 30% of total revenue. And, strikingly, 88% of pandemic-related gifts were from donors new to Binc. (For much more on the many fundraising events and campaigns, see articles below.)
"The work of the previous 24 years had us well positioned and prepared to respond to 2020," says Pamela French, executive director of Binc. "It didn't happen overnight. A lot of people came together."
Kathy Bartson, development director at Binc, adds, "We didn't realize how many friends we really had. The work of building relationships over the years and earning our credibility was so important, and with everyone coming together and with the outpouring of support, we could do extraordinary work at a time when it was most needed."
In March 2020, more and more booksellers and comic shop staff were applying for assistance, especially concerning paying rent. French and her team were able to scale up their operations very quickly. Based on the early requests they received, they decided to focus on housing costs, followed by food and medication. They also decided to structure their grants into bands. In the past, every Binc grant was customized to fit a bookseller's needs. Due to the sheer volume of requests coming in during the pandemic, they created tiers of $500, $750, $1,000 and $1,500 to streamline the application process.
With the help of three volunteers, Binc created an online application to further ease the process. Other volunteers pitched in as well, and Binc essentially brought on anyone who had the skills French and her team knew they needed. They also relied on a public health emergency policy that Binc had formulated in the past. As a result of all this, Binc was able to send out the first checks to individual applicants on March 17. At this time, Binc was receiving a new request for assistance every 15 minutes, all day every day.
"It's humbling to know that what we have been working towards for the past eight years, all of the advocacy we did and conversations we had, it paid off," French says. "Folks found us when the need was highest."
(For a full account of how Binc responded in the first few months to the pandemic, see this Shelf Awareness article from May 2020.)
On August 12, from 8 to 8:45 p.m. Eastern, Binc is holding a 25th anniversary party that will honor the foundation's past, present and future, and thank its many advocates and donors, its committee members and volunteers, its board members and its staff. The event will highlight Binc's many accomplishments and especially all that it did in the past year. At the same time, it will honor the work yet to be done. As Pamela French says, after the past year, "I think everybody needs some type of celebration."
The virtual event will be emceed by Isaac Fitzgerald and feature authors and creators Ann Patchett, Garth Stein, Celeste Ng, Jim Lee, Anthony Doerr, Mac Barnett, Jason Reynolds, Jeff Kinney, Min Jin Lee, Leigh Bardugo and more!
The 25th anniversary party has many honorary hosts, including Above the Treeline/Edelweiss and Publishers Weekly. Others, as of press time, include:
Opus Level ($5,000)
Folio Level ($2,500)
Lexicon Level ($1,000)
Bibliophile Level ($500)
Booklover Level ($250)
Join these supporters as an Honorary Host by clicking here; the deadline to be listed in the general invitation is July 9.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Binc has been aided by a wide range of people, companies and organizations in the book industry to raise money for Binc to distribute to stores and booksellers. "It was everyone: store owners and booksellers, publishers and authors, book lovers," Pam French says. "And we didn't have to ask anybody to donate or help. They came to us. It was a humbling experience to have supporters come to help book people during this time."
These fundraising efforts included authors who hosted online events and gave a percentage of their book revenues; sales of T-shirts, socks and hats; creative videos; pledges for runs and other events. Altogether there were more than 100 "third-party" fundraisers, which raised some $1.4 million for Binc. Among those efforts:
A donation from HarperCollins that was one of the first pandemic-related gifts. As French recalls, "In March, [HarperCollins president of sales] Josh Marwell called and said Harper was sending a check 'because you guys are going to need it.' "
The publication last September of Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of Covid-19, an anthology of essays, poems and stories from 90 contributors, edited by Jennifer Haupt, raised $40,000 for Binc. Publisher Central Avenue Publishing donated $20,000--all profits from the book--and its distributor, Independent Publishers Group, waived its distribution fee and donated another $20,000 to Binc.
Last August, Chuck and Dee Robinson, former owners of Village Books, Bellingham and Lynden, Wash., held an online auction of some of their own books, including first editions, many of which were signed, as well as ARCs and book ephemera. The auction raised $12,000 for Binc. (Chuck is a Binc board member and has been a longtime major Binc supporter, and earlier did two fund-raising long-distance bike rides.)
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| East City Bookshop, Washington, D.C., received a Binc Survive to Thrive grant. | |
The Center for the Art of Translation and Two Lines Press donated 50% of all contributions to their Spring 2020 fundraiser to Binc. The initial goal was to raise $30,000, with $15,000 going to independent booksellers.
Others setting up matching grants to benefit Binc included Steven Malk, a literary agent at Writers House, who matched every gift dollar for dollar up to $7,500, and Beacon Press, which offered a $5,000 matching grant.
In March 2020, Abrams launched the #HelpABookseller campaign, aiming to raise $100,000 for Binc. Major Abrams authors, including Jeff Kinney, Henry Winkler, Andrea Beaty, Gaby Dalkin and Laura Prepon, joined the effort.
Libro.fm held a #SocksforBinc campaign in April 2020, which raised $28,731 for Binc after 3,858 pairs of socks were sold. More than 1,300 people participated. The effort was done in connection with virtual Indie Bookstore Day, and involved a group of illustrators, authors and designers who created 10 designs for pairs of socks that it sold to book lovers. The minimum price for a pair was $15, and buyers were encouraged to add donations to the basic price.
In terms of numbers raised, most notably:
In April 2020, the first full month of pandemic lockdowns and other strict measures, in partnership with Binc and the American Booksellers Association, James Patterson launched #SaveIndieBookstores, donating $500,000. At the time, he said, "I'm concerned about the survival of independent bookstores, which are at the heart of main streets across the country. I believe that books are essential. They make us kinder, more empathetic human beings. And they have the power to take us away--even momentarily--from feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and scared."
More help for #SaveIndieBookstores came from Rick and Becky Riordan, who offered a matching grant of $100,000, and some regional booksellers associations also had matching grants. John Grisham and Stephen King appeared in conversation on King's YouTube channel to talk about their new books and promote #SaveIndieBookstores. Reese Witherspoon touted #SaveIndieBookstores on her book club. Europa Editions held "Our Brilliant Friends," an after-dinner book club and watch party that met weekly on Zoom, an hour before the airing of HBO's adaptation of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan quartet. Tickets were available for a suggested donation of $5, with all proceeds going to #SaveIndieBookstores. A group of YA authors held SIB-YA After Dark, an hour-long Twitter Ask Me Anything in support of #SaveIndieBookstores. The event was emceed by Isaac Fitzgerald, and participating authors included Elizabeth Acevedo, Mary H.K. Choi, Maureen Johnson, Alex London, Jason Reynolds, Phil Stamper and Nicola Yoon. Coordinating with Binc and the ABA, a group of independent publishers that included Archipelago, Beacon, ECW, Grove Atlantic and Steerforth, held a Bookscan Challenge, donating a percentage of sales on selected backlist titles, which raised $14,000 for #SaveIndieBookstores.
In a month, #SaveIndieBookstores raised more than $1.2 million from more than 1,800 donors.
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| Binc board president and Arcadia Publishing COO Matthew Gildea, Pamela French and Garth Stein, chair of Binc's Author Leadership Circle Campaign. | |
The Survive to Thrive Campaign launched this past March with initial grants of $500,000 from Ingram Charities and Ingram Content Group, and major gifts from Bookshop.org, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. When the campaign began, John Ingram, chairman of Ingram Industries and Ingram Content Group, said, "As we all turn our attention toward getting to the other side of the pandemic, I want to be sure local bookstores--gems of their communities--have a chance to not only survive, but thrive. Bookstores are the lifeblood of local communities--their success is our success."
In addition to the initial gifts, 12 authors and creators, led by Garth Stein and Amor Towles, made a combined $40,000 matching gift, which helped raise another $55,000. And An Unlikely Story bookstore in Plainville, Mass., owned by Jeff Kinney, held a benefit auction. Altogether the campaign raised $1.1 million to help 115 independent bookstores and comic book shops stabilize and recover as the pandemic slowly recedes. A jury reviewed applications, and this month Binc is sending $10,000 each to 99 stores and $7,500 each to 16 more.
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| Neighborhood Comics in Savannah, Ga., received a Binc Survive to Thrive grant. | |
When the pandemic hit last year, the comic world responded immediately and resoundingly. "We found out just how creative the comic community is," Pamela French says. "These folks can fundraise like nothing else. They came together in incredible ways."
Their pandemic relief efforts focused on the Comicbook United Fund, which was funded by Creators 4 Comics (founded by Sam Humphries, Kami Garcia and Gwenda Bond), Jim Lee, DC, Polarity (formerly Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group) and others. It grew out of the Forge Fund, which Polarity established in 2019 with a donation to Binc of $100,000. Then DC added another $250,000 to the fund, and last year the fund became the Comicbook United Fund.
Artists, authors, comics creators and other supporters joined in the fundraising. Their efforts included more than 600 auctions on Twitter. Jim Lee, publisher and chief creative officer of DC, began auctioning 60 original sketches in 60 days on eBay and raised $800,000. Bill Schanes founded the Give Comics Hope initiative. And early this year, Binc teamed up with George Beliard and the Hero Initiative--a longtime charity for comic book creators, writers and artists in need--to host "Double Vision" auctions. This campaign has featured new art from major creators and raised more than $140,000, which has been split between Binc and Hero Initiative.
The results were striking. The Comicbook United Fund raised $950,000 in April and May 2020. Binc distributed amounts ranging from $800 to $2,400 to 637 comic book shops across the U.S. and U.S. territories. In addition, in the first months of the pandemic, Binc distributed another $174,786 to 156 comic retail employees and owners to help with rent, mortgage, utilities, food and other necessities.
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| Celebrating the Forge Fund: (l.-r.) Rick Johnson, Polarity; Binc board member and bookseller Annie Philbrick; David Steward II, Polarity CEO, and Devin Funches, Polarity | |
"We created the Forge Fund in 2019, not even knowing the world was going to change in 2020. We put it in place at just the right time," David Steward II, CEO of Polarity, comments. "At the end of the day, our industry is built on these mom and pop stores, on this foundation of individual entrepreneurs. We wanted to make sure they knew there was some support out there for them. My hope is that we can coalesce as an industry around these businesses that have been supporting us and have been the backbone of the industry for so long."
YA and children's author Gwenda Bond recalls that #Creators4Comics "grew out of a group of us who were desperate to find some way to help comic shops and independent bookstores at the beginning of the pandemic. Author Kami Garcia got the ball rolling by asking several of us if we thought we could put together an effort that could help and what it might be. I had kept an eye on the twitter auction for the Australian wildfire relief efforts and thought it was a brilliant, easy model. Sam Humphries had noticed Jim Lee's fundraising for Binc, and I was familiar with them too, so we knew who we could raise the funds for. We pulled in Brian Michael Bendis and Phil Jimenez, comics legends, and then we just started contacting everyone we collectively knew or could e-mail or DM to ask them to donate items and participate."
The effort took off much faster than the group anticipated, Bond says, "and we were lucky to bring on other volunteers to help us keep things running smoothly. The sheer enthusiasm was breathtaking. Our small volunteer run effort was embraced, we feel, because so many creators and authors were desperate for something to do--just like us. We were able to raise more than $437,000 in five days through pure generosity on the part of the community of creators, authors, and fans."
Bond, Garcia and Humphries received San Diego Comic-Con's Clampett Humanitarian Award for #Creators4Comics last year. Bond notes that while receiving the award was an honor, it was "not nearly as special as feeling that we were able to give back to the places that made us, that help get our work and the work of others into the hands of readers, and without which the book world would be a grim place."
Binc was founded in 1996 as the Borders Group Foundation, with funding from company executives, staff payroll contributions, publishers and vendors. During that period, Borders employees donated an average of $4.17 per paycheck. From the beginning, the foundation's aim was to help booksellers in need and to provide scholarships. The foundation was built "by book people for book people," Pamela French says.
When Borders went out of business in 2011, the foundation could have closed, too. But the board of directors decided instead to continue--and expand its purview to help other bricks-and-mortar booksellers as well as, eventually, comic shop staff. Reborn a decade ago as the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, Binc has continued to grow, fundraise and help those in need, spreading the word with help from the American Booksellers Association, regional booksellers associations and companies and organizations in the comic world. Amazingly, over its existence, Binc has provided more than $10 million in financial assistance and scholarships to more than 9,000 families.
The foundation has a careful process for evaluating requests for assistance, relying on many program committee volunteers to consider grants. One of those volunteers is Kimberly Brock, a bookseller at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati, Ohio, who has worked on the Program Committee to evaluate grant requests not related to Covid-19, which can range from one a day to five a day. Only Binc staff communicate with the applicants; when the Committee evaluators get the applications, all the material is anonymous. "We only know of the help requested," Brock says. "We never know the location, the bookstore, or the name of the person."
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Brock praises Binc staff for "running a well-oiled machine" that "can help book people out when life is unkind. Oftentimes the help Binc provides keeps dreams alive. It keeps food on the table and the lights on. The help Binc provides allows book people to continue to be book people, and book people are the souls of our communities."
Besides the Program Committee, Binc has a Finance Committee and a Development & Communications Committee. "Their work last year was truly transformational," says Kathy Bartson.
Binc has always relied on donations--it is completely philanthropically funded. "We have no other source of revenue except for nonprofit donations," French says. Many people make automatic regular donations via credit cards, and for years, one donor has sent a $5 bill via snail mail every month.
French emphasizes how far the donations go in aiding people in need. Excluding pandemic-related donations, the average payout from Binc is $2,100. "$2,100 is a significant amount of money," French says. "With that amount of money, you can really change someone's life."
One example: housing stability. As housing costs continue to rise and supply is increasingly tight across the country, even in areas that until recently weren't considered expensive, a small but steady number of booksellers and comic shop staff turn to couch surfing or living in cars. Donors can, French says, "help that person find a safe place to call home."
These days, too, there has been an increase in dental emergencies. During the pandemic, stress apparently has led to a lot of teeth grinding and other dental problems.
From the beginning, the foundation has focused on trying to resolve individuals' underlying problems, if possible. It looks at "a three months' window instead of just saying, 'oh we can get your power turned back on for $800,' " French says. "We want to understand the root cause. Was it because you fell and broke your ankle so you had medical bills? By looking at this three-month window, we're able to ensure that one situation doesn't spiral out of control. We really want to be able to resolve the situation and put people back on stable financial footing."
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| Joseph Fox Bookshop in Philadelphia received a Binc Survive to Thrive grant. | |
One sign that this approach is effective is that, excluding pandemic-related help, under 10% of the people Binc has helped have come back for more aid. And if they do return, it is for a different emergency. They may find out about Binc when they need help with gaining housing stability and return if they need help with medical bills or there has been a death in the family.
French adds that Binc has not turned away any eligible applicants and has continued with that approach throughout the pandemic. She again expresses her gratitude to the book world and donors, who are "compassionate in the way they give." Because of their generosity, Binc has been able to take this more effective approach. "We're able to look at problems in this manner because we have both the human resources and financial resources to do so."
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| Strive to Thrive: staff at grant recipient Blue Bicycle Books in Charleston, S.C., celebrate Binc. | |
Note: Confidentiality is a core component of any assistance Binc provides, so the names of the following booksellers have been changed. Some events may have been compressed and details might be included from another story to protect the confidentiality and privacy of all those who receive assistance from Binc.
Story #1
A call came in from a bookseller whose wonderful family adventure had turned into a nightmare. James, along with his wife and children, had relocated to another state when his wife accepted a dream job. James was able to transfer to another bookstore in that area, so it all seemed to be falling into place nicely. They were planning on a brief stay in an extended stay hotel while they looked for a home to rent and begin their new life.
Within a few weeks of their move his wife's new employer suddenly eliminated a large number of positions, hers included. Having no place to go and with only one income from James's bookstore job, finding permanent housing was proving to be nearly impossible. Meanwhile, they were stranded in the hotel, which was quickly eating up the savings they had put aside for a new home.
While searching the internet for any kind of available assistance, James hit on Binc's website. A foundation that helped booksellers? It sounded too good to be true, but he took a chance and called anyway.
Binc was able to help pay for the hotel until they could find a place to rent. Then the Foundation further helped by covering the move-in expenses when the family found a home they could afford. Once settled and both parents once again employed, the family could begin to enjoy their new life.
Story #2
Owning a bookstore in a resort town on the Atlantic coast was a dream come true for Alexis. While hurricanes are a fact of life in this area, they often blow in and out without much lasting damage or disruption. Hurricane Florence was a different story: the storm slowly worked its way up the coast, leaving extensive flooding and damage in her wake. After the storm passed and it was safe to return to the store to assess damage, Alexis found that all of her pre-storm preparations had been mostly effective. She had moved all inventory to high shelves, so even with the 3"-5" of water that came into the store, most merchandise was not damaged.
But having merchandise to sell and actually opening the store to customers would prove to be two very different things. The road to recovery was proving to be much more difficult that Alexis first thought. Due to the extensive damage to the area, local authorities encouraged visitors to stay away, to give residents a chance to clean up the debris. For several months, access to the area was limited to residents and contractors only. The business owners and town leaders were working together on a plan to attract visitors back once the clean-up was complete. But until then, with no income, paying store expenses would be impossible for Alexis.
Routinely, after hearing about natural disasters, Binc Programs Managers will reach out to bookstores and comic shops in the impacted areas. These phone calls are intended to let owners and employees know that Binc is ready to help them recover as quickly as possible. This is how Alexis and Binc connected. Binc was able to help with a few months of store rent and utilities to help Alexis keep the doors open until the tourists returned and customers were once again able to shop for their next favorite book.
Story #3
Liz and Jim, who have owned a comic book shop since 2011 contacted Binc to seek help for a set of financial emergencies that hit their household in quick succession. Their call came after a particularly destructive wildfire season in the California community where they lived and worked. The fires had forced the couple to evacuate from both their house and their shop. As bad as the wildfires were, having them occur during the fourth quarter, after the couple had just made substantial purchases for holiday stock, made the situation all the worse. The loss from the wildfire so adversely impacted their business that Liz and Jim were unable to reopen and the difficult decision was made to sell the shop they loved. After several months, the buyers they had found abruptly stopped making their monthly payments, so the couple lost not only the monthly payments but all the inventory as well.
At around the same time, Liz was diagnosed with a chronic disease that limited her ability to help run the store. The couple realized that in the long run being closer to family and the caretaking help they could offer was their best move. They packed up their belongings and moved to a much less costly location in a neighboring state to begin anew.
As they were getting their new shop up and running, Liz and Jim were each working additional side jobs, but they were still struggling to cover their household expenses. All it took was a medical emergency to tip this delicate balance. The medical provider was threatening to send their bill to collections, which they knew could jeopardize their credit rating and the future of the store. They were running out of options when fate intervened. Liz and Jim were attending a comic retailer's summit where they learned about Binc. After talking with the couple about their self-proclaimed "string of bad luck," Binc was able to help cover household rent and utility bills as well as paying off that looming medical bill. With this bit of help, Liz and Jim were back on track to replicate the award-winning store they operated in California.
Story #4
A few months ago while working out at the gym a comic shop owner we will call Bill had a very frightening medical emergency. "I lost my mind, literally. I had an episode of amnesia and couldn't remember a multitude of numbers, phrases, passwords, friend's names and all the little things you take for granted like being able to access your phone or home that you use hundreds of times a day." He couldn't even remember how to call his wife for help.
Fearing it might be stroke-related, Bill was hospitalized for 24 hours of testing. After a multitude of tests the diagnosis of transient global amnesia was made. While the amnesia subsided after 10 hours, Bill was left with another set of problems to overcome: the bills.
"Ten hours of transient global amnesia cost me thousands. Having those bills due while working to keep the store afloat during a pandemic was even worse." What followed was months of arguing with the insurance company and medical providers over what amount was owed and who would pay. Frustration mounted as correspondence was lost, appeals were denied, and multiple invoices continued to show up in Bill's mailbox.
The programs manager at Binc advised and assisted Bill in negotiating the invoices totaling nearly $5,000 and keeping them from being turned over to a collection agency. Ultimately, Binc paid a large portion of the hospital bill, allowing him to get back to the important work of running his store.
Bill writes, "In addition to helping with the bills, you also helped with one of our other scarce resources--time. I would never have gotten to all the calls necessary to get them to stop billing me. I never imagined I would need [Binc's] help but certainly will be a lifetime supporter."
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| A 2019 Macmillan scholarship went to Kathy Burnette, owner of Brain Lair Books in South Bend, Ind. Pictured: (l.-r.) Tom Leigh and Anne Hellman, Macmillan; Kathy Burnette; Melissa Weisberg, Macmillan. | |
While celebrating its 25 years and its amazing work helping the industry, Binc knows that there are continuing challenges for bookstores, comic shops and their employees, particularly, on a personal level, involving housing and medical emergencies. For the future, the foundation wants to renew an emphasis on professional development, especially as in-person conferences, shows and schools become the norm again. Those efforts focus in large part on its array of scholarships, many of which were put on hold because of the pandemic but are being renewed. Some examples of past professional development scholarships include:
Binc also offers scholarships for the ABA's Winter Institute and Children's Institute, the regional fall conferences and Booksellers Certification Program.
Join in the fun by playing our Shelf Awareness Binc 25th Anniversary Trivia!
One winner will receive an assortment of Binc branded swag, including some of the specially designed limited-edition 25th Anniversary commemorative items. For the trivia questions and more information, click here.
