This is an important one to do year-round, but today (the last Saturday of April) is a day dedicated to independent bookstores. Independent bookshops are easy to support, and they are almost always super rad. This is definitely a moment to vote with your wallet for what you want more of in the world.
Since I tend to overthink the environmental impact of all my purchases, I usually don’t buy new books, but when I do it’s a treat, and I look to buy from a great bookshop. For me, acquiring books usually looks like this:
–Check out a book from the library
–If I LOVe it, I look for a used copy at a local used bookstore or or library book sale or BetterWorldBooks
–If I LOVe it and can’t find a used copy and/or I’d like to support the local bookshops, I buy a book from them (or other item–bookstores have more than just books!) I try to support the local shops on trips, during Covid shutdowns, occasionally throughout the year, and on Independent-Bookstore-Day.
With the amount of books we have in our house, we’re not in a position to always buy new, nor would my environmentalist-self want to. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t support local bookshops every now and then.
Don’t have a favorite local bookshop? Try searching for one in your area first. If not, think about a shop you’ve enjoyed in another town and see if they’ll ship or if they participate as an affiliate at Bookshop.org (That link is to my online shop.) Any book you purchase on Bookshop will split a percent with participating independent bookstores. How rad is that? Keep these magical shops alive! Where you shop matters.
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