Independent Bookstore Day 2017

Join us as Harvard Book Store joins bookstores across the country for Independent Bookstore Day, a day for celebrating what makes indie bookstores special!

We'll be selling exclusive merchandise, showcasing special displays of bookseller-recommend books, collecting your love notes to bookstores, and more.

Share your #bookstoreday visit on Twitter (tag us @HarvardBooks) or Instagram (tag us @harvardbookstore).

Browse Our Indie Press Staff Picks

We're a proud indie bookstore, and we proudly support indie presses! Check out the display in the store this weekend (and here on harvard.com) featuring some of our staff's favorite books from indie publishers.

Pick Up a Passport

Pick up an Independent Bookstore Day Passport at Brookline Booksmith, Harvard Book Store, Papercuts JP, Porter Square Books, or Trident Booksellers & Cafe on April 29th.

Visit each of these participating Boston-area bookstores on Independent Bookstore Day to receive an official stamp from all five locations! A complete passport will earn $5 off a $25 purchase at each bookstore through May 31, 2017. 

Exclusive Merchandise

The following merchandise will be available in-store, in-person only, beginning at 9am on April 29. Quantities are limited.

We'll join 400 participating bookstores nationwide selling 11 exclusive books and art pieces:

$6 Story: The Sandmeyer Reaction
A special SIGNED edition of Indie Bookstore Day’s ongoing “$6 Story” series featuring a cut from Michael Chabon’s latest novel, Moonglow. $6.00 [image]

A Literary Cocktail Party
This fun and useful book contains funny anecdotes and witty stories along with cocktail recipes from some of our favorite writers. $16.99 [image]

Welcome to Night Vale Vinyl Record
A vinyl edition of the bestselling Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. $24.95 [image]

“Lost & Found” Coloring Print
This original, SIGNED black and white drawing by Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess) is inspired by her forthcoming activity book, You Are Here. $17.99 [image]

A Literary Map of the U.S.
A SIGNED giclee print created by 3Fish Studios, creators of Bookstore Day’s A Literary Map of California and A Literary Map of the Seas. $42.00 [image]

An Author’s Best Friend Canvas Pouch
This handy 100% cotton canvas zippered pouch features portraits of real author dogs like Sparky Patchett and Jennie Sendak. $14.00 [image]

Literary Condoms (pack of 12)
These cleverly beautiful literary condoms are perfect counter-top impulse buys. Each pack of 12 contains 6 “Give Me That Darcy” Jane Austen condoms and 6 “Great Expectations” condoms. $3.99 ($47.88 for 12) [image]

“Bad Citizen” Graffiti Stencil
This year’s stencil features a quote from professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.: CENSORSHIP IS TO ART AS LYNCHING IS TO JUSTICE. $35.00 [image]

Literary Tea Towels
This year’s flour sack tea towels feature two food-related literary quotes from Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde. $22.00 [image]

Elephant & Piggie “READ” Onesie
This soft cotton onesie featuring Mo Willems’ wonderful Elephant and Piggie and an encouragement to READ. $22.00 [image]

“Child of Books” Fine Art Print
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling authors of A Child of Books, Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston, offer an exclusive SIGNED fine art print for book lovers of all ages. $29.99 [image]

Just what does Independent Bookstore Day celebrate?

Independent bookstores are not just stores, they’re community centers and local anchors run by passionate readers. They are entire universes of ideas that contain the possibility of real serendipity. They are lively performance spaces and quiet places where aimless perusal is a day well spent.

Indie bookstores, whether dusty and labyrinthine or clean and well-lighted, are not just stores, they are solutions. They hold the key to your love life, your career, and your passions. Walking the aisles of a good bookstore means stumbling upon a novel from India that expands your heart. It’s encountering an art book that changes the direction of your life. It’s the joy of having a perfect stranger steer you toward the perfect book.

In a world of tweets and algorithms and pageless digital downloads, bookstores are not a dying anachronism.  They are living, breathing organisms that continue to grow and expand. In fact, there are more of them this year than there were last year. And they are at your service.

“Consumers control the marketplace by deciding where to spend their money. If what a bookstore offers matters to you, then shop at a bookstore. If you feel that the experience of reading a book is valuable, then read the book. This is how we change the world: we grab hold of it. We change ourselves.” —Ann Patchett, bestselling author and co-owner of Parnassus Books