They say not to judge a book by its cover. We're going to go ahead and break that rule for a second and say that, by the looks of it, Independent Bookstore Day is going to be awesome.
Both locations of Changing Hands and about 400 other independent bookstores across the country will celebrate the first national Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, May 2, by offering special items available for purchase that day only in-store.
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Last year, bookstores across California participated in the state's first Independent Bookstore Day. After seeing the success of that event, bookstores across the nation banded together to make the day a national event, Changing Hands co-owner Cindy Dach says.
"We're excited to grow it like Record Store Day," Dach says.
Like the popular Record Store Day, during which patrons are encouraged to go out and buy records from their local, independent record stores, Dach and other independent bookstore owners hopes this day will get the community excited about their independent bookstores.
And due to the success of Record Store Day, which was on Saturday, April 18, this year, Dach says she has learned that there are plenty of independents and "funky people" who are willing to get on board with events like this.
"Arizona is an interesting state," Dach says. "We have lots of population but not lots of independent bookstores."
During this inaugural event, both the Tempe and Phoenix locations of Changing Hands will offer 15 percent off everything in the stores and all-day happy hour prices at First Draft Book Bar.
There will also be 14 limited edition items, including an original Chris Ware print created specially for Independent Bookstore Day signed by the cartoonist, library tea towels, and a print from Hyperbole and a Half's Allie Brosh, for sale in stores only. Dach says the Phoenix Changing Hands location will also feature a Hess beer sampling.
The discounts, limited edition items, and beer sampling (obviously) will be available in-stores only, so be sure to actually go and visit these independent bookstores, you know, in the pre-Internet sense.
As far as the future of Independent Bookstore Day, Dach says she and Changing Hands are going to wait to see how this first one goes and try to understand what the community wants from the event. But she thinks the outcome will be positive.
"We're really hopeful the Arizona community will embrace this like they have Record Store Day," Dach says. "We'll start planning for the next [Independent Bookstore Day] on May 3."
Independent Bookstore Day will take place locally at Changing Hands Tempe, 6428 South McClintock Drive, and Changing Hands Phoenix, 300 West Camelback Road, on Saturday, May 2. Check out changinghands.com for more details and descriptions of all the limited edition items available.