maps
GOOD ON PAPER THE MIDWEST INDIE BOOKSTORE ROADMAP IS PART TRIP PLANNER, PART PASSPORT, AND ALL FUN. BY RENEE BRINCKS
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t a time when buying novels might involve tapping a screen, physical bookstores feel especially delightful. Wander into a shop. Explore shelves packed with new releases and old favorites. Flip through some pages and escape into a story. It’s an immersive experience, and a reminder to focus on what’s at your fingertips. For Minneapolis artist Kevin Cannon, bookshops have long been that source of engagement and discovery. “I’ve always loved independent bookstores. I was the kid who would go into a bookstore, plant myself against a shelf, and just start reading,” he says. On Saturday, April 29, as Independent Bookstore Day events unfold nationwide, Kevin’s work will encourage others to plan book-based adventures. He illustrated the 2023 Midwest Indie Bookstore Roadmap, which spotlights more than 200 independent bookstores anchoring the Driftless. Equal parts whimsical collector’s item and serious resource, the paper map links readers to a network of diverse, book-focused businesses.
MAPPING COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS Creating connections is one aim of the Midwest Indie Bookstore Roadmap, a Midwest Independent Booksellers Association (MIBA) project now in its sixth year. MIBA is a nonprofit trade organization that supports locally owned and independently operated bookstores in 10 Midwest states. The group puts together trade shows, educational seminars, networking events, and other programs for its membership, which includes about 225 booksellers plus some publishers, distributors, wholesalers, and other industry professionals. Kate Rattenborg Scott and her staff hand out nearly 1,000 MIBA maps a year to customers of her two Decorah bookstores, Dragonfly Books and The Silver Birch. Kate, past president and a current member of the MIBA board of directors, says the roadmap helps customers visualize the number of indie bookstores operating in the region. And, despite the independent nature of these bookstores, it facilitates relationships between the stores themselves.
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