Lensaa Temesgen, a graduating senior at Middle College High at Contra Costa College, earned a $1,000 scholarship from the Friends of the Richmond Public Library and Richmond Public Library’s Teen Services division to support her upcoming college career.
Temesgen will be attending the University of California, Berkeley.
The “Dollars for Scholars” scholarship, formerly known as the SAT Scholarship, has been provided to a student accepted to a four-year university for the last 25 years. Eligible applicants were also required to write an essay and detail their community service.
“Unlike most scholarships, the scholarship is directly awarded to a recipient for use to purchase a computer or any other college-related expense so that is does not jeopardize the ability to receive other scholarships,” Teen Services Librarian Angela Cox said.
Temesgen said she was challenged by the elimination of the SAT score admission requirement and lack of access to counselors due to the pandemic. Also, it was hard for her to find scholarship opportunities for college. As a patron of the Richmond Public Library, members automatically receive an email library newsletter which is how Temesgen learned about the scholarship opportunity. Temesgen ‘s thought was, “I had a better chance to receive this scholarship since it is local and I am a library member.”
In many ways, it pays to be a library member.
