our diversity commitment

A Letter from Borders Group Chief Executive Officer George Jones
The shifting demographics experienced now and in the future will provide Borders with strategic opportunities for driving sales and creating distinction amongst its competition over the coming years. It is our mission to make Borders the preferred place for knowledge and entertainment throughout the world. Our commitment to diversity directly impacts our ability to drive sales and to successfully deliver our mission to our customers on a day-in-day-out basis.

We realize the impact diversity has on all aspects of our business. It is physically evident within the walls of our stores, demonstrated by how well our products speak to the needs of our diverse customers, supported through local community events and activities, reflected by the composition of our employee base, expressed within our internal and external diversity awareness communications and embedded in our framework for a formal supplier diversity program.

We truly value the diversity of our employees, customers and vendors because it results in our ongoing success. Although we will never lose sight of why Borders' loyal customers love us, we also understand the importance of accurately anticipating the needs and shopping preferences of future customers. Embracing diversity can help get us there.

I will make a personal commitment to ensuring that diversity and inclusion are a part of everyday life at Borders. I value the creative ideas, out of the box thinking, personal opinions that diversity of thought provides. It is the individuality of our booksellers that will make Borders the preferred place to work and shop.

George L. Jones
President and CEO

Our Diversity Statement
At Borders Group, diversity is who we are. Our commitment to diversity extends to progressive policies that uphold the right to personal dignity and fairness.

Every person has the right to be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of:

• Race
• Religion
• Color
• Creed
• Nationality
• Age
• Gender
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation
• Disability
• Veteran or military status
• Marital status
• Citizenship status

Borders Group supports the individuality of each employee and encourages all those who wish to grow to explore their talents and seek expanded opportunities. This deep-rooted enthusiasm for diversity of people and perspectives reaches from our corporate office into our stores, distribution centers, and into every community we serve around the world.

Diversity and Our Mission
Our mission reflects the overarching business objective that will differentiate us and guide us to long-term success. The Borders mission is: "To be the preferred place for knowledge and entertainment around the world." This provides a road map for where we are going and what we aspire to accomplish as a company.

Our mission provides timeless direction and clarity for more than 32,000 Borders booksellers around the world. The customer service we provide, our engaging store environment, the diversity of our booksellers and of our assortment, our loyalty program, and much more add up to making Borders the preferred place to work and shop. This truly reflects who we are as a company and demonstrates our commitment to diversity, inclusion and individuality at both the employee and the customer level.

Implementation of Our Diversity Strategy
Borders Group established a diversity task force (DTF) more than five years ago in an effort to heighten awareness around the business imperative of diversity in the workplace. The DTF is comprised of functional leaders throughout the organization and the team is focused on four strategic cornerstones of diversity:

• Reflecting the communities we serve
• Anticipating and surpassing the expectations of our diverse customers
• Formalizing a Supplier Diversity program
• Building Internal and External Awareness of our commitment to Diversity

Reflecting the communities we serve
Our goal is to establish Borders as an employer of choice for diverse employees and candidates. HR and functional leaders work together to develop targeted recruitment and retention plans designed to build a pipeline of mature and diverse talent throughout our corporate, distribution and field locations. By proactive resource planning, active community outreach and the development of focused relationships with various recruitment partners (AARP, SER, HACE) we can ensure that our employee base reflects the communities in which we serve.

Over the course of recent years, we have been nationally recognized for our work in the recruitment and retention of women, gay/lesbian/bi-sexual and transgender (GLBT) and mature workers. We continue to focus on and are making meaningful progress in the recruitment and retention of people of color.

This commitment extends to our corporate giving programs as well. For a listing of the organizations we've worked with recently, visit the Giving Nationally page.

To learn more about our employment process, visit the Corporate Careers page.

Employee Action Groups
In support of our recruitment and retention efforts, Employee Action Groups (EAG) were established to better understand and support the complexity of varying employee and customer cultures and backgrounds. EAGs represent unique constituencies, and are employee-driven teams composed of individuals at varying levels and with different functions within our company. The purpose of the Employee Action Groups is to explore a range of issues that support diversity efforts in the workplace, marketplace, and the local community. Currently, Borders Group actively supports four EAGs that champion the diversity of African Americans, Latinos, Women, and the GLBT community.

The African American EAG supports cultural diversity by empowering African American employees within the corporate structure of Borders Group and through outreach to our customers and communities.

The Women's EAG promotes the interests of women in our workplace, in our community, and with our customers through the professional and personal development of our employees.

The GLBT EAG advocates for GLBT employees by raising awareness of GLBT issues in the corporate office, and explores ways to extend Borders' commitment to diversity to our customers and the local community.

The Enlace Latino EAG's mission is to promote the roles and interests of Latinos and increase awareness of the Latino culture as a contribution to our workplace and community.

Anticipating and surpassing the expectations of our diverse customers
The shifting demographics that continue to affect the United States makes it more important than ever to focus on our diverse consumers. The buying power of the Hispanic, Asian and African American populations are growing at unprecedented rates. Baby Boomers are the most powerful generation of mature consumers ever. These segments of the population will dramatically impact the current and future economic growth of our country. At Borders Group we recognize the impact these changes have on the composition of our consumer market. It is our goal to understand and to reflect the interest of diverse customers in our stores. Our commitment to diverse customers is evident in our in-store promotions, events, product lines and merchandising efforts. The link between a focus on diversity and the business imperative is clear. We are focused on driving company sales by increasing the sales of diverse product lines and increasing the sales and market share in our most diverse markets.

Formalizing a supplier diversity program
At Borders Group, we are dedicated to expanding our diversity initiatives beyond the walls of our corporate office, stores, and distribution centers and into our vendor communities. We're extending ourselves by:

• Analyzing the diversity of our current vendor base and monitoring it to ensure that growth in representation of minority suppliers increases over time.
• Building the framework to develop a formal Supplier Diversity program.
• Establishing methods to better source diverse suppliers.
• Developing guidelines for diverse procurement decisions.

Building internal and external awareness of our diversity commitment
At Borders, we have worked to develop an internal communications strategy, external media relations plan and various training programs that employ best practices to attract and retain a diverse employee and customer base throughout our headquarters and in our most diverse markets. Internally, we have built diversity awareness within all Borders business units through:

• Diversity specific electronic and print employee communications.
• Web-based diversity content on intranet.
• A formal approach to diversity awareness training in addition to a variety of programs that educate employees on cultural/age perspectives and multicultural business acumen.
• Sponsored cultural awareness events promoting cultural education and fun. Examples include diversity book clubs, author presentations, artist performances, and team-building activities.

We have built awareness of our diversity commitment externally, exemplified through recognition from several local and national organizations and publications:

• In February 2005, Borders Group was named part of the AARP National Employer Team, a result of our efforts to respond to the changing age demographics in the work force, and our commitment to matching mature workers with employment opportunities.



• Borders store #519 in San Francisco was recognized in 2005 by three separate organizations for its work with deaf employees. Toolworks, an organization designed to meet the unique educational, vocational and support needs of adults with disabilities, named Borders their employer of the year. The store was also recognized as employer of the year by the San Francisco mayor's committee for employment of persons with disabilities, and received a certificate of recognition from the California state legislature.



• Borders Group is recognized as a featured company by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in its Corporate Equality Index which evaluates how major U.S. companies treat gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, customers and others.



• Girlfriends, a national lesbian magazine, recognized Borders Group among its top seven companies with the 2005 "Best Places for Lesbians to Work" award.



• In 2004, Borders was recognized with a Partnership Award plaque at the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright 2004 awards.



• Borders Group ranked No. 1 among Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Michigan on the first annual Michigan Women's Leadership Index, which rates Michigan's largest companies based on the number of women in key leadership positions.



• The Advocate, an award-winning national gay and lesbian news magazine, recognized Borders among its top 10 companies to work for in 2003.



• The National Association of Black Accountants, the premier professional association for developing and promoting greater participation by African Americans and other minorities in the accounting and finance professions, recently awarded Borders Group with a Corporate Appreciation Award for support of the Detroit Chapter.



• Borders Group was presented with a special tribute award in 2003 at the Arbor Awards for Excellence, which recognizes best practices in human resources for employers headquartered in Southeastern Michigan. Our achievements included the Value of Employment strategy, which was created to focus on the activities and services that matter most to our employees.



• Borders Group was included in the Catalyst Honor Roll in 2003, an acknowledgment of Fortune 500 companies that have 25 percent or more women on their board of directors.



• The Washtenaw County Work/Life Consortium awarded Borders Group its First Annual Work/Life Balance Designation for Borders Group's Value of Employment strategy in 2002, which Borders Group implemented in order to attract and retain the best employees while balancing the needs of both their professional and personal lives.

External Diversity Council Borders Group has formed an external diversity council of leaders from academia, the publishing industry, business and the non-profit sector who will provide objectivity, expertise and guidance to the company's internal diversity task force. Specifically, the external diversity council will support the company by:

• Ensuring that the company's diversity goals are aligned with its mission and strategic direction.
• Reviewing established diversity metrics and monitoring success.
• Evaluating strategic plans and providing advice, counsel and feedback related to diversity goals.
• Sharing external and industry perspectives and best practices related to diversity programs.