Bards Alley To Hold Book Hunt For Independent Bookstore Day

Bookworms of all ages are invited to a scavenger hunt around Vienna on Saturday, April 28 for National Independent Bookstore Day. Bards Alley, an independent bookstore that opened last year on Church Street, will host the book hunt at 9 a.m.

Joining the scavenger hunt is easy and free. Participants should look for brown paper-wrapped books tied with string and sporting Bards Alley stickers. A clue to each book’s genre will be written on front. Books can be found at and around a number of local businesses, and in public spaces throughout the Town of Vienna.

The Book Hunt starts at 9 a.m. and lasts until the final book is found. Follow along using #BardsAlleyBookHunt2018. Participants can find find clues on the Bards Alley Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.

This is the second year Bards Alley will host the scavenger hunt. Last April, the bookstore was not yet open but got the community involved with the book hunt.

"Independent bookstores connect readers with new books," said Jen Morrow, owner of Bards Alley. "Last year we hid 60 books, and they were found within the first hour! This year we plan to hide even more."

Bards Alley will hold other events for National Independent Bookstore Day:

• From 11 a.m. to noon, meet Hena Khan, author of picture books, Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets: A Muslim Book of Shapesand Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors, as well as the middle grade novel Armina’s Voice.
• From 1 to 2 p.m., meet Nicole Tong, author of the poetry collection, How to Prove a Theory, which won the Washington Writers’ Publishing House’s 2017 Jean Feldman Poetry Prize.
• From 3 to 4 p.m., meet Scott Berg, author of two books of narrative history -- Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C., and 38 Nooses: Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier's End -- and is now at work on a third, about the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire.

Independent Bookstore Day began in 2014 and became a nationally-recognized event in 2015. Find out more about the event and other local bookstores online.

Image via Bards Alley