There's a lot going on this week for bookish folk, including the good (Independent Bookstore Day Spirit Week, World Book Day), the bad (Amazon Book Sale), and the ugly (also Amazon Book Sale), all culminating on Saturday with Independent Bookstore Day.
Also underway, from April 21 to 27, is the inaugural Global Book Crawl, "a worldwide celebration of independent bookshops and those who love them. Readers, writers, and booksellers join forces for one week to create a tapestry of neighborhood strolls and unforgettable encounters. Come for the books. Stay for the magic."
The initiative was "born from a simple yet powerful idea: to unite independent bookshops worldwide in a celebration of local literature, community, and culture, all with minimal resources needed," according to the organizers. Bookstore crawls can be tailored to each unique community, "requiring only creativity and local collaboration, while benefiting from the global reach and shared excitement of a worldwide movement."
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| Stockton-Bagnulo at Greenlight Bookstore | |
Global Book Crawl's co-founders are Federico Lang of Librería Luces in Málaga, Spain; Bríd Conroy of Tertulia Bookshop, Westport, Ireland; and Jessica Stockton Bagnulo of Greenlight Bookstore and Yours Truly Brooklyn in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Earlier this year, in a column written for India's All About Book Publishing, Lang shared how Global Book Crawl is uniting indie bookshops worldwide: "In a world increasingly dominated by massive online retailers, indie bookshops are more essential than ever. They offer more than just books; they create community, connection, and discovery spaces. The Global Book Crawl is our way of spotlighting these spaces, encouraging people to rediscover the joy of browsing in-store and connecting with those who curate the shelves. While each event is local, we're making a global impact together, proving the resilience and importance of independent bookshops.... Let's turn this into a global celebration, one local bookshop at a time. It's simple, beautiful, and powerful."
Conroy told the Clare Herald recently that she believes this is just the beginning: "We know the importance of bookshops as community and cultural spaces. This is our first worldwide event all celebrating the Global Book Crawl on the same week in April, but it will grow and grow each year as bookshops want to be part of it. In Ireland we have over 100 independent bookshops and can't wait to have them all on board."
The Brooklyn Paper noted that this year marks the 10th annual Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl, "inviting bookworms on a literary journey through as many as 26 independent bookstores across the borough." Stockton Bagnulo said: "Brooklyn has a truly incredible diversity of bookstores, and they all need the support of the readers who value them. The families and friend groups having fun trekking across the borough during this week in April are also making it possible for Brooklyn's literary culture to thrive for years to come."
For Global Book Crawl, each city or region curates its own crawl, a self-guided route through indie bookshops. In addition to Brooklyn, participating cities in the U.S. include Louisville, Ky. and Oklahoma City, Okla., among many, many others. We'll be hearing more about them as Indie Bookstore Day arrives, but I thought it would be fun to keep the focus a little more, well, global, with this column.
Among the countries getting into the Global Book Crawl spirit this year are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Fiji, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, Lichtenstein, Malaysia, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, and Sweden.
In Australia, more than 60 bookstores are participating. Dan Jordan, director of Roaring Stories in Sydney, told Books+Publishing, "A global campaign that reinforces the profile of independent bookshops and the value they provide to local communities is to be embraced. Enticing book lovers to get out and explore other bookshops and neighborhoods across their city or region is a simple yet smart way to encourage more people to discover the diversity of independent bookshops they can enjoy."
Maddy Delany, bookseller and event manager at Fullers Bookshop, Hobart, said she is hoping for "a sense of camaraderie between independent bookshops in our town--then country, and then the world! And to watch this beautiful Venn diagram of book-loving community spirit appear as we observe how people visit the shops that they perhaps wouldn't normally, and hopefully have conversations they might not usually have."
Fifteen independent bookstores in Malaysia are joining the Global Book Crawl, including Books for a Better World in Petaling Jaya. "We're excited to not only showcase Malaysia's thriving indie bookstore scene, but to also unite Malaysians through a shared love of reading," Adrian Ung, the bookstore's CEO, told the Star. "The Global Book Crawl is all about stories, creativity, and community--and we're proud to carry that spirit into Malaysia."
Bookverse in Kathmandu, Nepal, posted on Instagram: "Hello Booklovers from Nepal, the land of Himalayas. We @bookverse.np are a small indie store located in the heart of Kathmandu and we are joining bookstores from all around the world through @globalbookcrawl to celebrate the local book culture. Use the hashtag #globalbookcrawl to connect with book lovers all around the world and discover what they are reading."