Nine independent bookstores in Buffalo, N.Y., have teamed up to create Buffalo Bookstore Week, Buffalo Rising reported.
The event, which began yesterday, will run through September 4, and customers are encouraged to post photos of their bookstore visits and purchases on social media with the hashtag #BuffaloBookstoreWeek2022. Customers will also have a chance to win a season subscription to the 2022-23 BABEL author series at the Just Buffalo Literary Center.
The participating stores are: Alice, Ever After Books, Burning Books, Dog Ears Bookstore & Cafe, Fitz Books, Gutter Pop Comics, Rust Belt Books, Talking Leaves Books, Westside Stories and Zawadi Books.
Kristianne Meal, owner of Rust Belt Books, said: "A city's truer inner culture can be revealed through the choices of its stacks in independent bookstores. It is a total statement when a city can support a wide mix of independently run bookstores.”
"We're here to start conversations," said Meg Howe, owner of Alice, Ever After Books. "We're here to share stories, both real and imagined. There's also the data to show that when you spend your money in a local bookstore, more of that money goes back into your community than when you decide to buy online or from a big box bookstore."