Around Indies

Becky Anderson Wins Naperville City Council Seat

On Tuesday, April 7, Anderson’s Bookshops co-owner Becky Anderson was elected to Naperville, Illinois’ City Council, the Daily Herald reported. Anderson earned 9,406 votes, the fourth-highest number of votes for the eight seats available.

Anderson will be sworn in on May 3 and will serve a four-year term.

Barrington Books to Open Second Location

Barrington, Rhode Island’s Barrington Books will open a branch store in Cranston’s Garden City Center this fall, Cranston Patch reported. Under the moniker Barrington Books Retold, the 5,000-square-foot space will fill a much-needed role at a popular shopping center that once housed a Borders.

“Barrington Books has evolved into a shopping destination on the East Bay, and we are excited to duplicate the indie bookstore experience that we have long been known for at Garden City Center,” Barrington’s general manager, Jennifer Massotti, told Patch.

Cranston Mayor Allan Fung called Barrington Books “a charming independent bookstore that is committed to community involvement… They will be a wonderful asset to the West Bay and our city. I look forward to visiting them when they open later this year.”

Our Town Books Employee to Purchase Shop

Andy Mitchell, an employee of Our Town Books in Jacksonville, Illinois, will take ownership of the shop this June following the retirement of owners Jim and Sally Nurss, the Jacksonville Journal-Courier reported.

An aspiring poet, Mitchell was raised in Jacksonville and began working at Our Town Books when the store opened four years ago. “It didn’t take me long to decide that I did want to buy the bookstore from them,” he told the Journal-Courier. “My favorite haunts have usually been bookstores, libraries, and coffee shops.”

Mitchell is considering growing the store’s online book sales options and its presence on social media, but said he has few plans for immediate changes.

Let’s Play Books! Hosts Little Free Library

In Emmaus, Pennsylvania, children’s bookstore Let’s Play Books! is hosting a Little Free Library on its front porch, giving readers the opportunity to take or leave a book at any time of day, any day of the year.

The weatherproof library was constructed by the residential construction class at Boyertown Senior High School. Teacher Ken Burton, who learned about the Little Free Library movement in Parade Magazine, said he had been looking for a home for the last of five Little Free Libraries built by his students, when he found a basket of free books outside Let’s Play Books!

“I went inside and asked owner Kirsten Hess if she would like to play steward for one of my libraries as it needed a home. One thing led to another and soon Emmaus had its own Little Free Library,” said Burton.