A chance to come out and support local bookstores is coming up on Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with the Independent Bookstore Tour showcasing six south suburban bookstores that will be open to attendees to buy books and participate in the stores’ events.
The event is in tandem with National Independent Bookstore Day, and the Chicagoland Bookstore Crawl, which has been held annually since 2018 and highlights over 80 independent bookstores this year.
The six area bookstores that will be participating include Homewood’s Beyond the Book, 18063 Dixie Highway; The Rock Shop, 18109 Dixie Highway; Love’s Sweet Arrow, 17200 Oak Park Ave. in Tinley Park, Plot Twist Books, 80 E 9th St. in Lockport, and The Jolly Giraffe, 116 Kansas St. in Frankfort.
Attendees will be able to ride a bus that will take them to each store, staring at Love’s Sweet Arrow at 9:30 a.m., with the bus departing at 10 a.m., Plot Twist Books around 10:20 a.m., The Jolly Giraffe around 11:15 a.m., Beyond the Book around 12:10 p.m., The Rock Shop at 12:45 p.m., then back to Love’s Sweet Arrow by 1:35 p.m.
Beyond the Book owner Tenia Davis said there will be various activities at her bookstore like a giveaway every hour, games, local authors coming to do book signings, selling of merchandise that will only be available during the event, and live music in collaboration with Melody Mart.
“We put together bus tours, and it’s a great way to bring around awareness that bookstores are here and (that) we’re more than just bookstores,” Davis said. “We’re a great hub for the community.”
Owner of Love’s Sweet Arrow Roseann Backlin said the romance bookstore is coming up on eight years in Tinley and has participated in the bookstore crawl every year.
This year, they will have local author D. Williams doing book signings, a game where attendees can tell them what they like to read and get recommendations, and will have a Golden Ticket for people to find in collaboration with Libro, a company working with independent bookstores for audiobooks to get 12 free audiobooks.
More information about the Chicagoland Bookstore Crawl can be found on the ChiLovesBooks website.
