Independent Bookstore Day
media release: Twelve indie bookstores in the Madison area will celebrate Independent Bookstore Day together on Saturday, April 25, by offering exclusive specials, a city-wide raffle, and a free commemorative art print featuring the names of all twelve stores.
Independent Bookstore Day (a.k.a. Indie Bookstore Day or IBD) was established in 2013 by the American Booksellers Association (ABA) to promote, celebrate, and highlight the value of the independent bookstore community. This year there are over 1,600 stores participating across the country (up from 1,200 in 2025). As further proof of the thriving indie bookstore community here in south-central Wisconsin, twelve indie bookstores (up from eleven last year!) in the Madison area have teamed up to offer the following deals to our community:
Participating Bookstores:
A Room of One’s Own: 2717 Atwood Ave, Madison
Arcadia Books: 102 E Jefferson St, Spring Green
The Book Deal: 3822 Mineral Point Rd, Madison
Garden Wall Bookshop: 101 N Main St, Verona
Ink & Ivy Book Boutique: 2134 Regent St, Madison
Ink Cap Books: 220 W Main St, Stoughton
Lake City Books: 107 N Hamilton St, Madison
Leopold’s Books Bar Caffè: 1301 Regent St, Madison
Madison Paperbacks: 2716 Atwood Ave #3, Madison
Mystery to Me: 1863 Monroe St, Madison
Prairie Pages: 113 W Main St, Sun Prairie
Republic of Letters: 151 High St, Mineral Point
www.facebook.com/RepublicofLettersBooks
RAFFLE: For each bookstore visited that day, shoppers can enter a raffle to win a $50 or $25 gift card to one of the participating stores. You can have up to 12 entries in the raffle if you visit all 12 stores! The week after the event, 24 winners will be chosen at random, with 12 winners receiving a $50 gift card and 12 winners receiving a $25 gift card.
FREE ART PRINT: As a keepsake for shoppers visiting any of our stores on IBD, we commissioned a commemorative 5x7 inch print by local artist Megan Stout (https://www.instagram.com/simplystout) which will include the names of all twelve participating stores in a unique design in her chosen style. Last year we commissioned a print from Stella Balsley, and we plan to feature a different artist every year with this new tradition. All twelve stores will give away a limited number of Megan’s print, and we request that each customer only take one from one store. A sneak peak of the design will be released closer to the date.
GOLDEN TICKET FOR FREE AUDIOBOOKS: Most participating stores will have a Golden Ticket hidden somewhere in the store for one lucky customer to find and win 12 free audiobooks from Libro.fm, which is the indie-supported alternative platform to Audible for audiobooks.
SPECIALS: In addition to the collaborations mentioned above, each store will have its own unique specials.
“Indie Bookstore Day was our single biggest sales day last year, so it’s hard to overstate how important it is to our small business. Madison is such a great book community, and the love we feel on this day in particular is so special and truly helps indie bookstores continue to thrive,” says Molly Fish, owner of Lake City Books. “Some people will try to hit all twelve bookstores, and it is always fun to hear them planning their routes since some are a little further away.”
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