Booksellers Start Planning for Independent Bookstore Day

More than 500 indie booksellers across the country will be celebrating Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) on Saturday, April 28. Here’s what some of them have planned:

• Cellar Door Books in Riverside, California, will be celebrating with all-day voting for the 2018 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards and the Cellar Door Indies Next Choice Awards. Shelf-talkers around the store will identify what’s been nominated. The top three titles selected for the Cellar Door Indies Next Choice Awards will be displayed and discounted the week after IBD.
• In Brooklyn, New York, more than 30 independent bookstores will celebrate the day with the Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl, which invites readers to visit as many stores as they can and share pictures on social media using the hashtag #bkbookcrawl. Participants will be entered into a giveaway to win prizes throughout the day, and prizes will be distributed at an afterparty, with the location to be announced soon.
• Between the Covers in Harbor Springs, Michigan, is marking its 35th anniversary on April 28 with a Mad Libs-style story on the store’s front windows; opportunities to graffiti local author Alison DeCamp’s photo; a “grow a reader” growth chart craft; and cookies, appetizers, and cocktails.
• Nineteen local bookstores in Seattle, Washington, are banding together for the Seattle Independent Bookstore Day passport, which invites readers to visit the area’s bookstores to earn stamps toward discounts.
• The Toadstool Bookshop in Keene, New Hampshire, will offer musical performances by a cappella group Chock Full O’ Notes and storyteller Doug Farrell; circus demonstrations and a book signing with Circus Smirkus coach Jackie Leigh Davis; and a number of author readings and signings.
• In Chicago, Women & Children First has promised giveaways, complimentary refreshments, and exclusive books and literary merchandise on Independent Bookstore Day.
• East City Bookshop in Washington, D.C., will celebrate its second birthday on April 28 with prizes, literary festivities, and cake.
• At The Bookstore in Appleton, Wisconsin, kids can read to Hank the Book Dog, participate in a scavenger hunt, or get a free candy bar with a $10 purchase, which supports the local humane society.
• Horton’s Books in Carrollton, Georgia, will feature literary trivia all day; a Harry Potter coloring hour with butterbeer; a book swap; and origami.
• At Left Bank Books in St. Louis, Missouri, festivities will include pancake artist Dancakes whipping up custom, literary-themed pancakes in the store; a Llama Llama coloring party and story time; a bullet journaling class; a dramatic reading of Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s The Force Doth Awaken by Shakespeare book club The Magnoificos; a bookstore scavenger hunt; and much more.
• New Dominion Bookshop in Charlottesville, Virginia, will hold its first annual Rose Garden Tea Party in addition to a scavenger hunt, in-store giveaways, themed discounts, guest booksellers, and a children’s story time.
• Charleston, North Carolina, bookmobile Itinerant Literate is partnering with The Brew Cellar and Commonhouse Aleworks for a day of games and readings on April 28, which marks the store’s second birthday. The day will feature a Dr. Seuss activity time; gymnastics; author readings and singings; Scrabble; blackout poetry; a live storytelling event; and prizes and giveaways.
• An Unlikely Story in Plainville, Massachusetts, will offer a Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat story time, a social media scavenger hunt based on The Westing Game, and a Harry Potter trivia event.
• In Canada, independent bookstores will celebrate Independent Bookstore Day, which was formerly called Authors for Indies but rebranded this year to acknowledge the indie bookstores that make Canada’s communities special.

Stores can list their plans for the day on the Independent Bookstore Day spreadsheet. Visit the Independent Bookstore Day website to learn more about the event or follow Independent Bookstore Day on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.