Over the past five years, Seattle Independent Bookstore Day (SIBD) has come to mean a great deal to all of us working in the Seattle bookstore community. So it is with great sadness we announce the cancellation of this year's area-wide festivities which were rescheduled to take place on August 29th. Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our staff and customers and with ongoing concerns over Covid-19, we could not in good conscience encourage the gathering of large groups of revelers.

The SIBD Challenge (visiting all participating stores in a single day) has been the original and most successful Indie Bookstore Day event of its kind. And though we are unable to gather in person, we could not let a year go by without some sort of celebration of the day. To that end we have created a limited edition t-shirt via Bonfire, available in a variety of sizes, colors, and styles. Shirts can be ordered through September 6, and will ship starting on September 15. Proceeds will go towards funding next year's SIBD and the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.

We also wanted to remind you that despite current events, our stores continue to serve our communities. We are all operating in varying degrees. Please see our listings below to learn how to best reach your local indie bookstore.

And finally we would be remiss in failing to mention the overwhelming outpouring of support our bookstores have received from the community during these challenging times. Not only your financial support but your kind words—through emails, online orders, social media, and during brief curbside interactions—have truly sustained us. The Seattle area independent bookstore community continues to thrive because of you.

What Is Independent Bookstore Day?

Independent Bookstore Day is a one-day national party that takes place at indie bookstores across the country on the last Saturday in April. Every store is unique and independent and hosts its own party. And in addition to authors, live music, cupcakes, scavenger hunts, kids events, art tables, readings, contests, and other fun stuff, there are exclusive books and literary items that you can only get on that day. Not before. Not after. Not online.

What Is Seattle Independent Bookstore Day?

When Independent Bookstore Day went national in 2015 (after its founding in 2014 by booksellers in Northern California was a rousing success), Seattle's indie bookstores collaborated to showcase what we do best: build human connections through physical books, in a daylong celebration of the work we do and the readers and customers who make it possible. We offered many of the same events and exclusive items as our colleagues across the country, but we also introduced the Passport Challenge, encouraging readers to get their passports stamped at as many participating stores as possible on Bookstore Day. Those who get their passports stamped at every participating store that day are crowned Grand Champions, with a crown, a party, and best of all, a 25% discount at all participating stores for the following year. We admit we have been stunned by the response: in our first year, we weren't sure if anyone would complete the full Passport Challenge, but we crowned 42 Grand Champions. In 2017, our third year, the number of Grand Champions, all of whom visited 19 stores from Poulsbo to Kirkland to Queen Anne to Georgetown in a single day, exploded to 320, and in 2019 our total number of Champions increased to 636.

Why Are We Celebrating Independent Bookstores?

Independent bookstores in the Pacific Northwest aren’t just brick and mortar storefronts. We’re part of a thriving literary scene made up of writers, readers, librarians, and publishers (which was declared by UNESCO in 2017 an official "City of Literature"). We’re local literary destinations for our communities and staffed by passionate, well-read booksellers. We’re entire universes of ideas that contain the possibility of real serendipity. We’re lively performance spaces and quiet places where “just that right book” can be discovered.

Bookstores are living, breathing organisms that continue to grow and develop each year. In a world of tweets, algorithms, and digital downloads customers find it reassuring to walk into a bookstore, smell the books, talk with a bookseller, and hold the books in their hands. This won’t change. And we’re here to stay.

How Does the Passport Challenge Work?

On Independent Bookstore Day, official Passport Maps are available at every participating Seattle-area store. (The stores are listed below.) On one side is a map (designed by Stephen Crowe at Third Place Books), and on the other is a list of every participating store, with address and contact information. When you visit each store on Bookstore Day, make sure to get your passport stamped by a store employee, and when you visit your last store for the day, turn in your passport. If your passport has stamps from all 22 stores*, we'll invite you to our Grand Champions party and get you your Grand Champion Card, good for a 25% discount at all participating stores for the following year. If you aren’t able to visit all the stores that day, for every three stores you visited you'll get a 30% coupon, good for a one-time use at any participating store. (In other words: visit three stores, get one coupon; visit six, get two coupons, etc.)

*For those stores with more than one location on the map—Madison Books/Phinney Books and Third Place Books—you only need to get a stamp at one location for each store.

When Does It Happen?

Seattle Independent Bookstore Day takes place on the last Saturday in April of every non-pandemic year.

How to Connect with Us

Visit our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Use #SEABookstoreDay if you want to add to the conversation.