Borders, Inc. is proud to announce its partnership with Lilith Fair, a celebration of women in music as envisioned by Sarah McLachlan. It was natural for Borders to become a partner of Lilith Fair because Borders and Lilith Fair have the same vision--to entertain, benefit and contribute to local communities. Borders is honored to be chosen as the Learning Sponsor of Lilith because learning and exploration is what Borders is all about. At Borders people can meet, discuss, explore, discover, read and listen. They can find out anything and go anywhere.

In addition to McLachlan, the Lilith Fair tour will feature a broad spectrum of contemporary music with such diverse artists as The Cardigans, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Paula Cole, Indigo Girls, Suzanne Vega and many more. The tour, consisting of approximately 35 North American dates, is set to kick off July 5 in Seattle and run through August. Other stops on the tour include San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Detroit. The tour, created by McLachlan, is the first of its kind, and makes a statement about the evolution of the role of women in popular music. "It's been a long time since I was this excited about something," says McLachlan. "We wouldn't have been able to do this five years ago. It's a very cool feeling." Paula Cole is just as passionate about the tour, but takes a more philosophical stance: "As Virgil said, 'dux femina facti' (the woman got it done)."

McLachlan also intends to have Lilith Fair provide a forum for up-and-coming female artists. The festival's set-up will feature a second stage on the audience lawn for both emerging artists and unique career performances by established artists. This second stage will give bands the chance to play for far more people than they would likely draw if touring independently. Some of the newer acts already booked for Lilith Fair are Beth Orton, Fiona Apple Wild Colonials, Victoria Williams, Autour de Lucie and Kelly Willis.

Besides being the Learning sponsor, Borders will be the exclusive music retailer on-site at every Lilith Fair venue, with a portion of CD sales from Lilith artists going to benefit Lifebeat, a not-for profit AIDS resource and awareness organization and The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) which operates America's only national toll-free hotline for survivors of sexual assault. The hotline (1-800-656-HOPE) provides callers free, confidential counseling and support 24 hours a day, from anywhere in the country.

Borders will also be the only retailer to offer an exclusive Arista sampler that will be included with Sarah McLachlan's new full length CD, Surfacing. The added disc, with a release date of July 15th, will be a CD-Rom similar to Sarah's last CD-ROM piece, The Freedom Sessions. The CD-ROM will also contain a track titled "Prayer To St. Francis" as well as four to six minutes of an audio interview. In addition, Borders will also host in-store appearances by Lilith artists, with a portion of the proceeds from these in-stores going to local charities.

Founded as a small independent bookstore by Tom & Louis Borders in Ann Arbor Michigan in 1971, Borders' stores have become places for social gatherings as well as forums for ideas and entertainment. Borders stores are committed to supporting local and emerging artists both in their communities and nationwide. Borders continues to lead the industry with in-store listening stations where customers can preview new and classic releases along with releases from breaking artists in search of their first audience. Borders stores also host performances by local and national artists on a weekly basis.

Borders believes very strongly in the concept it helped to originate more than 25 years ago--comfortable stores for book and music lovers with an extensive selection of titles, community oriented events and an attentive staff who are hired for their love and knowledge of books--all in a warm, inviting atmosphere. The company successfully went public in 1995 (NYSE BGP) and today, 90 percent of Borders full-time employees with six months tenure own stock in the company.

Borders is part of Ann Arbor-based Borders Group, Inc. which also owns Waldenbooks Co., Inc., the nation's largest chain of mall bookstores with over 900 stores throughout the U.S.