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Clevelander Ken Palko pores over books in the arts' section of Loganberry Books on Larchmere Boulevard on Cleveland's East Side in this Plain Dealer file photo. Loganberry owner Harriett Logan borrowed the idea of creating a passport book that book lovers could get stamped as they visited all nine area bookstores on National Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 20.

(Lonnie Timmons III, Plain Dealer file)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- On Independent Bookstore Day this Saturday, Appletree Books is selling keepsake bookmarks created by local artists, Mac's Backs Books on Coventry has exclusive copies of Neil Gaiman's coloring book, and Loganberry Books is assembling prize baskets for book lovers who check in at nine local bookshops.

Those are just some of what local booksellers have planned for the second annual National Independent Bookstore Day, an occasion to toast all things literary at independently owned and operated retailers.

Bookstores who participated in last year's event said it boosted sales by an average of 70 percent nationwide. "We had a marvelous Independent Bookstore Day -- 5.5 times the sales from last year on this date," said John Paul from Letterpress Books in Portland, Maine, in a statement. "But the best part was the many customers who came in to celebrate!"

Independent Bookstore Day:

Launched in 2014 by Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of Green Apple Books in San Francisco.

Website: www.indiebookstoreday.com

Facebook: facebook.com/BookstoreDay

Twitter: twitter.com/bookstoreday

Instagram: instagram.com/indiebookstoreday/

Hashtags: #IndependentBookstoreDay or #BookstoreDay

Lynn Quintrell, owner of Appletree Books in Cleveland Heights, is hoping the event helps remind shoppers and supporters of how independent bookstores are different from the chain bookstore experience. "We have people who have actually read the books," she said.

And unlike booksellers who spotlight the books that publishers are pushing, "we sort of do our own thing and champion books you've never heard of," Quintrell said. She said a table at the front of the store will display the four favorite books of everyone on her staff.

"I love Bookstore Day because it is a large-scale communal event that joyously celebrates the literary ecosystem and shows how symbiotic the relationship is between readers, writers, and bookstores is, and how essential they all are in sustaining the contemporary written word," said Lauren Groff, 2016 Bookstore Day Author Ambassador, in a statement. Groff is the author of Fates and Furies, Arcadia, Delicate Edible Birds, and The Monsters of Templeton.

Nine local bookshops are offering stamps for the Cleveland-area Independent Bookstore Day Passport.

Cleveland area bookstores are eager to quash rumors that independent bookstores are endangered, and promote the news that they are thriving. In fact, Loganberry owner Harriett Logan said at least four new bookstores have opened in Greater Cleveland within the past two years.

"We're on the upswing now," she said. "The number of stores increased almost 15 percent in 2015."

Suzanne DeGaetano, owner of Mac's Backs Books on Coventry in Cleveland Heights, said independent bookshops have benefitted from the "buy local" movement.

"When Borders [Books & Music] closed, that made a big difference to independent bookstores throughout the country," she said. "We all got busier, and it helped to stabilize us" after years of losing market share to chain book stores. "People started looking for other brick-and-mortar places to buy local. That's actually known as the 'Borders effect' in some places."

To encourage bibliophiles to check out bookstores outside their neighborhoods, store owners created an Independent Bookstore Day Passport, with room for stamps from every store. Jakprints, a locally owned printer, produced the Passports.

Book lovers who visit participating bookstores can get their Passports stamped to earn discounts and win autographed books and other pri

zes. "There may be more than one person who achieves this, so we have bags of book swag," Logan said..

The event is sponsored in part by Penguin Random House, Ingram Content Group, and The American Booksellers Association.

Even if bibliophiles don't make it to all nine bookshops, "save your passport as a handy directory for great places to buy books."

This is a list of local participating stores, and what they are planning that day:

-- Appletree Books (12419 Cedar Rd., Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44106, 216-791-2665, www.appletree-books.com).

Special events include: Plain Dealer reporter Joanna Connors, author of I Will Find You; Tricia Springstubb, author of Cody and the Mysteries of the Universe; and Shelly Bishop, creator of Heirloom Greetings vintage cards.

The store will also feature raffles of signed books, necklaces featuring miniature leather-bound books, and bookmarks by local artists, including illustrator Jamey Christoph, graphic artist Tiffany Laufer, and letterpress artist Jess Bennet.

Local author Tricia Springstubb will autograph copies of her children's books, "Cody and the Fountain of Happiness," and "Cody and the Mysteries of the Universe."

-- The Bookseller, Inc. (39 Westgate Circle, Akron, Ohio 44313, 330-865-5831, www.thebooksellerinc.com).

A family-owned Akron bookstore that opened in 1948, The Bookseller specializes in used and rare books and is offering a storewide 15 percent discount and refreshments on Saturday.

-- The Bookshop in Lakewood (15721 Madison Ave., Lakewood, Ohio 44107, 216-221-5222, www.facebook.com/TheBookshopInLakewood).

The Bookshop in Lakewood, which opened in 2014, carries a variety of used books and is adding new bestsellers and frequently requested titles. The store is offering a one-time 10-percent discount on purchases (up to 20 percent off per visit) for every stamp in your Independent Bookstore Day Passport, through May 28.

-- Fireside Book Shop (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44022, 440-247-4050, www.firesidebookshop.com).

A three-story bookshop in downtown Chagrin Falls, Fireside Book Shop is willing to special order whatever it doesn't have in stock. "We can almost always order it and have it for you in under a week," Fireside said in a statement. "We have a huge, incredibly well-stocked children's area on the upper floor and can even search for rare out-of-print books." Independent Bookstore Day Passport holders can receive a 50 percent discount on all used books on Saturday.

-- Guide to Kulchur (5900 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102, 216-314-4644, www.guidetokulchurcleveland.com).

Guide To Kulchur: Text, Art & News, a cooperative bookstore and printing press project directed by R.A. Washington, aims to serve as an incubator for emerging and marginalized voices within the print medium. "Our main projects include Cleveland Books 2 Prisoners, GTK Press, The Cleveland Zine Archive, and The Sally Tatnall Black Box," the store said. GTK is offering 50 percent off everything in the store on Saturday.

-- The Learned Owl (204 N. Main St., Hudson, Ohio 44236, 330-653-2252, www.learnedowl.com).

The three-story Learned Owl bookstore carries classic picture books to travel guides to the latest New York Times bestsellers. "If we don't have a certain book in stock, we're happy to order it; we also offer an out-of-print search service," the store said.

-- Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Hts., Ohio 44120, 216-795-9800,www.loganberrybooks.com).

The 21-year-old Loganberry Books houses 100,000 new, used and rare books, as well as a well-known feline manager named "Otis." On Independent Bookstore Day, the store is hosting a Lit Cleveland workshop on nonfiction publishing in the morning, and a reception for IBD patrons from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., with a 2 percent discount of books for every stamp in the Passport, through May 15 (excluding sale items).

-- Mac's Backs Books on Coventry (1820 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118, 216-321-2665,www.macsbacks.com).

The three-story Mac's Backs has events planned throughout the day for Independent Bookstore Day, including the Blk Skwrl Akkordion Club of Kent playing international street music from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., the Trepanning Trio performing avante jazz from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., face-painting from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and other promotions.

Suzanne DeGaetano of Mac's Backs Books on Coventry in Cleveland Heights welcomes bibliophiles for Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday.

"We open at 10, and we expect a small line for merchandise that's only going to be available on Independent Bookstore Day, like Neil Gaiman's coloring book," DeGaetano said. "He has a huge, huge following and created this book just for independent bookstores."

Mac's Backs is also participating in what organizers hope will be "the world's largest tattoo chain," with temporary tattoos of all the words to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland that people can apply and take pictures of, DeGaetano said. The photos will then be stitched together online to recreate the entire story.

From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. local origami artist Lisa Cheng will help children create unique origami boxes for their books. The store will also have a raffle for the next Harry Potter book when it comes out, and a 7 p.m. discussion with Tom Grace, author of the just-released Kent State: Death and Dissent in the Long Sixties.

-- Strong Bindery (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120, 216-231-0001, strongbind@hotmail.com).

Strong Bindery, located inside Loganberry Books, says it has repaired more than 5,000 leather, hardcover, and paperback books over the past 30 years. "Books fall apart. Bindings break. Pages tear. Time and circumstance take their toll on even the best bound tomes," the store said. Proprietor Ellen Strong co-founded Coventry Books, an eclectic bookstore from the 1970s and '80s.

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