Elgin County’s independent bookstores are joining forces to celebrate Canadian Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 26—and they’re inviting book lovers to make it a literary day out.
For the first time ever, a collaboration between six local book retailers—Lake House Books, Lockwood Books, Purely Wicked, Aveyron Bookshop, Ex Mortis Books, and Cimmerian Wares, gives shoppers 10% off at the participating stores when they purchase a book at more than one location on April 26.
Each store will also be planning its own unique events, giveaways, and sales in honour of the national day which recognizes the cultural impact and community spirit of indie bookstores.
Lake House Books in Port Stanley will have free giveaways for kids and adults, a poetry reading by Peri Hayes at 4 p.m., and a contest to win $1000 or $200 to your favourite Canadian indie bookstore. Each book purchased is worth an entry into the contest; books by Canadian authors or illustrators are worth 2 entries. There will also be a golden ticket from audiobook platform Libro.FM hidden somewhere in the store. Finally, Lake House Books, along with other indies across the country, will have exclusive access to sell 52 Ways to Reconcile by David A. Robertson on April 26, 2 weeks before the larger chains.
In St. Thomas, Lockwood Books will host a storewide 25% off sale, live music throughout the day and a raffle for a $50 gift card.
Also in St. Thomas, Purely Wicked is offering a free gift with book purchases over $50.
Meanwhile, three online vendors—Aveyron Bookshop, Ex Mortis Books, and Cimmerian Wares—will join forces for a pop-up event at Reed’s Records (445 Talbot Street, St. Thomas), featuring refreshments from Union General Coffee Company. Aveyron will also have a golden ticket from Libro.FM available and a raffle for a gift basket. Each purchase gets you an entry in the to raffle.
Ex Mortis and Cimmerian Wares are offering free giveaways, with Ex Mortis offering 25% off online purchases.
More details will be shared on each store’s social media channels.
Written by: K. Freeman
