Iowa Indie Bookshop Tour fosters connection, community

Customers walk into Next Page Books in Cedar Rapids looking for their next read. They walk out with a mission.

“I’ll ask customers ‘Are you aware of the Iowa Indie Bookshop Tour?’ and if they say no, I pretty much say ‘Well, you’re starting today,’” said bookstore owner Bart Carithers. “I hand them the brochure, give them a stamp and get them all set up.”

Next Page is one of 45 stores featured in the second annual Iowa Indie Bookshop Tour, a statewide summer program meant to increase visibility and patronage of Iowa’s independent bookstores.

The tour began July 1 and runs through Sept. 30. At their first stop, participants pick up a “passport” with a list of participating bookstores and receive a stamp for each store where they make a purchase.

  Buy Photo

Passports are then returned at the end of the tour, and participants are added into a prize drawing. A minimum of two stamps is required to participate with additional stamps representing extra drawing entries.

Five participants will win $50 gift cards to a participating bookstore of their choice, and two larger prizes will be given to participants who visit more than 40 participating stores. Participants can also fill out a self-guided Bingo card with book-related prompts that can be submit for additional prizes.

“People travel a lot through Iowa, especially in the summer time,” said tour organizer CoriAnn Theroux. “What better way is there to do that than have people come through and have an extra excuse while they’re traveling to go and visit bookstores.”

Theroux, who owns Green Dragon Bookshop in Fort Dodge, started the tour last year in an effort to connect readers with bookstores across that state. The program also helps bookstore owners connect with others in their field, she said, even if their store is the only one in their immediate area.

In January of 2024, she reached out to dozens of bookstores across the state to gauge their interest. The response was as swift as it was enthusiastic.

“It seemed like a no-brainer, especially when I caught wind that so many of the other bookstores were participating," Carithers said. “I thought it was amazing that people were buying in and spending the time and effort to drive all over the state to visit bookstores.”

The inaugural tour featured around 35 bookstores. That number grew to 45 this summer, and Theroux said she’s already heard from additional stores interested in participating next year.

All participating bookstores are mapped on the Iowa Indie Bookshop Tour website and separated out by region. Theroux also uses the site to track stores’ hours and any additional information such as if face masks are required.

She also collects recommendations from bookstore staff for other area businesses or attractions that participants might be interested in. Some list local restaurants while others plug parks or sweets shops.

“When (participants) go and visit a bookstore, they don’t typically just support that bookstore,” Theroux said. “They shop at our local cafes and coffee shops and stop at Iowa’s unique tourist attractions or museums.”

  Buy Photo

Dragonfly Books in Decorah, for example, lists recommendations such as the Decorah Farmers Market, the historic Hotel Winneshiek and Pulpit Rock Brewing Co. The store is one of two Decorah bookstores participating in the tour alongside The Silver Birch.

This year marks Dragonfly Books’ second year participating in the tour, and manager Sarah Krammen said the store has already given out more than 500 stamps to locals and tourists alike.

With one month left in the program, Krammen expressed optimism that the figure will continue to rise. So far, she said the best part of the tour has been chatting with customers, talking about books and hearing about participants’ experiences at other bookstores.

“It’s been so much fun to just chat and ask ‘What’s the next stop on your tour?’ or ‘What’s your home bookstore,” Krammen said. “When someone comes in with their passport, … it’s just a way to start a conversation about reading and book culture in Iowa.”

Comments: grace.nieland@thegazette.com