Grab your reading glasses and get ready to book-shop until you drop. It’s time for the 2nd Annual Lakeland Book Crawl! Presented by the Lakeland Booksellers, this weeklong event – featuring sales, surprises, and bookish bonding – runs from April 24 to April 29, 2023. The Booksellers were so encouraged by the community response to the inaugural Book Crawl, they decided to make it an annual event. Like last year, the Book Crawl takes place leading up to National Independent Bookstore Day on the last Saturday in April.
“The Lakeland Book Crawl is a weeklong celebration for the book-loving community here in Lakeland,” said one Lakeland Bookseller, Pressed Books & Coffee owner, Christina Needham. “Each day of the week, we will feature a different local bookstore, each with their own daily deals and giveaways, all while highlighting literacy, small business, and our customers.”
Here’s what eager readers can expect each day in this “six-day tour de force of books, books, and more books!”
Day one kicks off at Bookend Used Books on Monday, April 24, from 10:30 am – 5:30 pm. 30% off *excluding classics.
Tuesday – Inklings Book Shoppe from 9:30 am - 7:00 pm. Indie author signing, FREE kids book with any purchase, and 10% off all.
Wednesday – Pressed Books & Coffee from 8 am - 6 pm.
Free coffee with book purchase.
Thursday – Crash Bookshop from 10:30 am - 6:30 pm. 10% off new books.
Friday – The Unbound Bookery from 10 am - 6 pm. 20% off all books. Little Bus Books from 10 am – 7 pm, 50% of proceeds of Spanish titles for No Covers – Free Mobile Bookshop.
Lakeland Book Crawl bookmarks will be available for purchase at each of the six locations. One hundred percent of the Book Crawl bookmark proceeds go to the Children’s Home Society of Lakeland “to help promote the literacy and care of orphans and children in foster care.”
Keeping with the local love, the Book Crawl hosts collaborated with Lakeland-based commercial artist and illustrator Josh “Bump” Galletta to create their adorable bookworm mascot. Local artist Tate Krupa of the pop-culture-inspired handmade gift shop Red Swan designed this year’s bookmark.
According to the Lakeland Book Crawl website, “The goal of this annual crawling is to bring booksellers, book lovers, and the greater Lakeland community together for a bookish good time. We are a kooky collaboration bringing awareness to the community about local independent bookstores.”
Pressed Coffee and Books owner Christina Needham noted how much the booksellers enjoy collaborating on the event throughout the year. “We think the more people we can reach to promote books and the importance of books in our community, to use them as a way to connect people, as a way to educate, as a place where people want to come and spend time – we find that brings great value to our city,” she said. “Even though the event does promote our stores, we also want it to be a celebration and appreciation to our customers who faithfully support us all year.”
Needham sees the annual Book Crawl as a testament to the community’s commitment to its city. “I think it goes to show how much people in Lakeland love local business and enjoy working together for the greater cause of the city.”
Don’t forget to tag your bookish posts with #lakelandbookcrawl and scan the QR code when you visit a participating bookshop to enter for a chance to win a gift card from all six stores. Visit www.lakelandbookcrawl.com for more information.
Photography Provided
