Chapboro Book Crawl celebrates local independent bookstores

Literature lovers crawled through the local independent bookstore scene Sunday at the third annual Book Crawl — an event where attendees visit various shops to get exposure to different types of literature.

The Crawl was organized by Peel Gallery and consisted of three other Chapel Hill and Carrboro bookstores: Golden Fig Books, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews and Flyleaf Books.

Mimi Stockton, assistant director at Peel Gallery, said an independent bookstore LGBTQ+ Pride crawl in New York inspired her to bring the idea here alongside Lindsay Metivier, owner of Peel Gallery. 

“I sent them [the other bookstore owners] an email and said, 'I have this idea,' and everybody was in," Metivier said. "There was no hesitation, which I think is really sweet, because sometimes when stores are so similar or have similar offerings to the community, it might feel like maybe they're your competition, but that's not how it is with us." 

Jaime Sanchez, co-owner of Epilogue, said the collaborative event works because each bookshop brings its own distinct flavor. 

“It definitely is an event where you get a lot of exposure to a lot of different genres and authors, just because of a mix of bookstores that are involved," Sanchez said. "We bring our sauce, they bring theirs and we make something beautiful happen." 

Stephanie Forlemu, a lab manager at UNC’s Social Neuroscience and Health Lab, said that she is drawn to the local independent bookshops because of their support of new and underrepresented writers, which is particularly important to her as the daughter of a Cameroonian immigrant. 

“I didn't read a lot of fiction growing up with people that looked like me or had a similar culture to me, so when I saw this, I was like, 'I need to get this,'” she said, holding a copy of “Freshwater” by Akwaeke Emezi, a fantasy novel with a Nigerian protagonist she found during the book crawl.  

Forlemu said she planned to visit all four bookshops with a friend to explore all the different collections the shops offered. 

Caroline Vaverek, a librarian in Cary, and her friend Maggie Muzi also planned to go to all four locations to make a day of the book crawl. 

Participants of the crawl received a stamp and an entry into the raffle for each location where they purchased a book. The raffle prize was a gift basket and gift card from each bookshop. 

But for Vaverek and Muzi, they were not just motivated by the prize to buy from the local bookstores. 

“I prefer indie bookstore stores, because I consume a lot of books in a given year, and so since I'm spending money on it, I would rather it go to people who have bills to pay,” Muzi said with a growing stack of books in her hands. 

Muzi’s statement touched on the economic incentive to shop small, something all of the local bookstore owners are passionate about. Specifically, if things are ordered online, or even if they are bought at big box stores, much of that money does not end up staying in the community, David Bradley, founder and owner of Golden Fig Books said. 

“We can't do it without a community, and the book crawl is one day a year, but we have 364 other days as local businesses to compete against chains," Sanchez said. "So just asking people to please, help us to stay alive. We can't survive against chains without you."

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