Congratulations to Dog-Eared Books, Ames, Iowa, which celebrated its fifth anniversary the weekend of March 7 and 8 with in-store discounts, door prizes, giveaways, audiobooks donated by Libro.fm, kids activities, more than 500 cookies baked by one of the store owners' mothers, and the presence of Shop Dog Story, who greeted customers and showed off her tricks, and new Mascot Dog, Deb, who made her debut appearance.
The main event was a daylong flash tattoo offering. Six tattoo artists with whom the store has planned previous flash tattoo fundraisers in support of fighting book bans, Palestinian relief, and reproductive rights, offered their times and talents to provide literary tattoos for Dog-Eared Books' customers. Store owners Amanda Lepper and Ellyn Grimm pledged a 25% lifetime discount to any customer who chose a flash tattoo drawn from the store's branding. Book lovers formed lines that stretched the block starting as early as 7 a.m., camping out with coffees, blankets, and books in every form--hardcovers, paperbacks, e-books, and audiobooks. By day's end, more than 30 customers had shown up to show off their new Dog-Eared Books tattoos and earn lifetime discounts.