NEW ORLEANS – On Saturday, April 30, New Orleans bookstores will team up to celebrate the annual Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) with a bookstore “passport” and giveaways. Activities will take place at seven bookstores during this year’s event: Baldwin & Co., Blue Cypress Books, Community Book Center, Frenchmen Art & Books, Garden District Book Shop, Octavia Books, and Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop.
Each store is planning their own special activities, and together, they are offering the chance to win $175 in gift certificates to customers who visit all seven participating bookstores. Stores will also give away a special prize in a raffle for customers who visit at least four of the bookstores. Book lovers can pick up a “passport” at any of the participating stores on April 30 and will gain a sticker or a stamp for each shop they visit.
Independent Bookstore Day also offers a selection of unique, limited-edition books and merchandise created just for the special day. These items will only be available at participating stores and only on Saturday, April 30.
The American Booksellers Association (ABA) has also announced that Bestselling Author Angie Thomas was selected as ambassador for IBD. Angie Thomas is the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of the novels The Hate U Give, On the Come Up, and Concrete Rose as well as Find Your Voice: A Guided Journal for Writing Your Truth. She is also a co-author of the New York Times bestselling novel Blackout. Angie divides her time between Atlanta and her native Mississippi. You can find her online at www.angiethomas.com.
Independent Bookstore Day was established in 2013 to promote, celebrate, and highlight the value of the independent bookstore community. The day has been observed on the last Saturday of April every year since 2013. This year there are 872 stores participating across the country.
For more information on exclusive merchandise, author appearances, and special local activities at each of the participating bookstore locations, please visit the store websites.
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