Recipients of Scholarship Awards from the Friends of Los Alamos County Libraries are, from left, Elaina Trujillo, Ian Sandborgh, Sara Khan, Rocco Del Mauro, Penelope Barry-Hoffman, Inez Christensen, Frank Sheppard, and Helena Welch. Courtesy photo
BY DARLA GRAFF THOMPSON
Scholarship Committee Chair
Board Member FLACL
On behalf of the Friends of Los Alamos County Libraries (FLACL) and the Los Alamos Public Schools (LAPS) Foundation, we congratulate the 2026 recipients of the Harry and June Ettinger Memorial Scholarship and seven FLACL Scholarship Awards. As the 2026-27 school year begins, we want to encourage seniors to keep these scholarships in mind and consider applying!|
These awards are based on student essays that share how a book has broadened a student’s perspective or expanded their understanding of the human condition. The selected books must be from the student’s free-reading rather than assigned coursework. To encourage students to discover new stories, selected books should not have already been adapted into a movie or television series. FLACL scholarship funds are raised by volunteers who operate the used bookstore located in Mesa Public Library, and as most of the used books are donated by the community, these awards truly come from all of us who love books.
The top prize, the Harry and June Ettinger Memorial Scholarship, administered by the LAPS Foundation, is a $3,500 cash award that can be used at whatever educational institution the student attends. It is renewable for one year with a GPA of 3.0 or better. Congratulations to this year’s award winner, Frank Sheppard, with his personal narrative on the book “Warriors Don’t Cry” by Melba Pattillo Beals.
FLACL Scholarships are a one-time cash award of $2,500 for the student to use at whatever college/university they attend. In alphabetical order, this year’s FLACL Scholarship winners and their books are: Penelope Barry-Hoffman “When I Sing, Mountains Dance,” bIrene Sola; Inez Christensen “Leave it to Psmith” by P.G. Wodehouse; Rocco Del Mauro ”Born A Crime” by Trevor Noah; Sara Kahn “Epic Earth: A Wild Ride Through the History of Life on our Planet,” by Lindsey Nikole; Ian Sandborgh “The Stormlight Archives” by Brandon Sanderson; Elaina Trujillo “The Inheritance Games” by Jennifer Lynn Barnes; Helena Welch “Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer’s Ithaca” by Robert Bittlestone.
Congratulations to all of this past year’s scholars! We’re proud to celebrate your accomplishments and wish you all the best as you begin this exciting next chapter of your lives.