Melissa Klumpp

One of the 15 locations in the Hampton Roads book crawl, the Book Exchange has the largest collection of used books locally. In the crawl, each location has unique events throughout the week, but all locations ask participants to take selfies and tag them with #hrvalovesindiebookstores.

National Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) falls on the last Saturday of April, and local readers prepare to celebrate indie bookstores during this year’s events.

Established in 2013, IBD aims to promote and celebrate the often-forgotten value of the independent bookstore community, according to Blue Leader and Loudoun Today.

“I think it’s important to shop at small or local businesses, especially bookstores because it contributes to the community in a positive way,” said library media assistant Emily Kilmartin.

This Independent Bookstore Day, bookstores across Hampton Roads are hosting a Hampton Roads Bookstore Crawl. During the week of April 19-27, the crawl includes 15 local indie booksellers and encourages book lovers to support their local bookseller community.

When participants visit their first bookstore, they are given a passport that will be stamped by each bookstore they visit. Once they reach their last bookstore, they leave their passport and can collect multiple prizes based on how many locations they visited, including an entry into a raffle the following week.

“Small businesses really help run the world,” said library media specialist Nicole Glaser. When you buy a book, you are not supporting a big corporation like Amazon, you are helping [a family].”