Booksellers and authors pitched in to make the fifth annual Independent Bookstore Day a success on Saturday.
At Left Bank Books, St. Louis, Mo., co-owner Kris Kleindienst greeted the IBD crowd. Along with prizes, giveaways and a "blind date with a book" fundraiser, the store was also celebrating its 50th anniversary. Customers left notes about their favorite Left Bank memory on the store's wall.
At Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, Mass: (l.-r.) booksellers Rachel Lapkin and Amy Fitzgerald; author and illustrator Youme Landowne; author Heidi Stemple; author Jane Yolen; bookseller Jennifer Manglass. Owner Joan Grenier reported, "A great day! A long-time customer baked 200 cupcakes and several dozen shortbread cookies.... We had a 14% increase in sales over last IBD. We gave away 30 IBD totes with purchases over $50--next year we'll need to order more!"
The Green Team stood ready at Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, N.C. The day's events included crafts and coloring for kids, gift bag drawings and visits from the Cat in the Hat and the Poetry Fox, who writes poems on demand on a vintage typewriter.
At Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul, Minn., owner Holly Weinkauf (l.) posed with Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan and her daughter, Siobhan. Among the day's events, the store did book-and-balloon drops around town, and hosted a performance by the Ramsey Middle School Jazz Band.
At One More Page Books, Arlington, Va., "Our Bookseller Bake-off was highly competitive with an array of delicious treats. Eileen O was this year's winner with her chocolate cake pops. In totally unrelated news, the bake-off competition was also our highest sales hour of the day...hmmmm."
And at the end of the day, Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, Mass., tweeted, "Goodnight, bookstore. Thanks to our amazing customers who purchased books and tote bags, wrote on our banner, or let our booksellers pet their dogs. Safe to say this was the best #BookstoreDay yet. Until next year..."