The 11th Annual Independent Bookstore Day is THIS Saturday, April 27.

Held the last Saturday in April, Independent Bookstore Day celebrates, well, it celebrates independent bookstores.

One Day. Fifty States. Over a Thousand Bookstores.

You may be asking, what is an indie bookstore?

An indie bookstore is independently owned by an individual (or individuals) and typically consists of a single actual store. Although, there are some multi-store independents like Politics & Prose here in Washington, D.C.

The benefit of indie bookstores is that booksellers build long-term relationships with their customers, which allow them to provide personalized service. They take pride in matching their readers with the perfect title to suit their interests instead of merely trying to sell as many books as possible like chain or large box retailers. Indie Bookstores and their awesome booksellers become an integral member of their communities.

I am fortunate to live in Washington, D.C. that has over 19 independent bookstores. And that doesn’t count the indie bookstores in neighboring Virginia or Maryland!

This year, there are 19 local indies are hosting the DC Bookstore Crawl.

By visiting at least 5 participating DC Indie Bookstores and getting your map stamped, you will collect a special prize at the fifth store. If you’re up for a super challenge and visit all 19 bookstores, you’ll be entered into a raffle for a grand price of a year of audiobooks from Libro.fm.

I mapped out a route for all 19 bookstores. Because yes, I am that level of geek.

Now the map shows a driving route (because I couldn’t find one that would incorporate both the metro and walking). And this route makes the most sense logistically from where I live (letter A) and it makes a (kind of) loop. Or at least the best loop I could do given where the bookstores are.

But two main problems.

1. This map does not take into consideration the different store hours. One store opens at 8:30, but closes at 4, others don’t open until 11. Some are open 12 hours, but one is only open 5 hours on Saturdays. Even if I had a full 12 hours to visit all 19, that’s still attempting to get to 2 an hour.

2. I don’t have a car, so I’ll be metroing and walking. While the metro is great and convenient, some of these bookstores are not near a metro station. In fact, the longest leg is 1.2 miles because that store is not near a convenient metro to get to the next store. I added two metro stops to this map to get it to work right. This means a lot of walking. If google maps can be believed, at least 16 total miles. All across the city.

Doable? Sure, with good planning, good walking shoes, and good hydration.

Reasonable? Probably not.

Even though you can see clusters of stores, the map is a little deceiving because I had to zoom out so much to get all 19 in the screenshot. And DC is deceptively hilly. For example, B to C is uphill. And also, I didn’t include that metro stop, but basically it’s all uphill from letter A.

Having a car would make it easier to get to all 19. But then there’s the problem of city parking. Where to park? Street parking, which costs, isn’t always available. Lots are even more expensive and even less readily available in some sections of the city. So while a car would cut down on the walking, it would add to the cost.

Clearly, I need a chauffeured car. A Jeeves to drop me off at the front of each store and then pick me up to whisk me away to the next store.

Sadly, since that’s not happening, I’m stuck withe walking. Someone smarter and better at logistics could probably make a better map. But I have to go with what I have.

We’ll see how it goes on Saturday. But regardless if I get to 5, 11, or all 19, I will still have an incredibly fun day. And likely, I might bring home a book or 2.

What are you planning for Independent Bookstore Day?

Independent Bookstore Day graphics from American Booksellers Association
DC Bookstrore Crawl downloaded from Loyalty Books
Map created using MapQuest