This Saturday, November 26, is Small Business Saturday. While big box stores may sell it cheaper and online sellers more conveniently, small businesses learn what their own community needs and offer personalized service and recommendations to help customers find what they need. And after a pandemic of depersonalization, that personal touch means more than ever.

Not only that, small businesses make our communities good places, replacing the banal sameness of much of our commercial landscape with unique storefronts and signage, walkability, and in many cases, offer gathering places for local events. Small businesses preserve and renew neighborhoods, so important to the fabric of our cities.

Independent bookstores are a big part of that landscape. While Amazon shut down its own attempt to launch brick and mortar stores and is scaling back it inventories of books, independent bookselling has been growing. Indie bookstores offer unique events for every age group and often are a place where new authors get to engage, in a live space, with potential readers and where people get to hear established writers talk about their works (and of course sell signed copies!).

And so it just makes sense that part of Small Business Saturday is the Indies First Initiative, which is now in its tenth year. This is an effort of the American Booksellers Association that begins with authors, encouraging them to volunteer as guest booksellers during Small Business. And it seeks to encourage those of us who buy books to turn to our local independent booksellers for those recommendations rather than a computer algorithm. Coming at the beginning of the holiday shopping season, the booksellers are glad to help you find just the right book for that favorite someone.

This effort was launched by First Nations author Sherman Alexie, who came up with the idea of writers volunteering as guest booksellers and also to link to indies to sell their books online. Over the years, the effort has enjoyed the advocacy of well-known spokespeople and authors including Roxane Gay, N.K. Jemisin, Dan Rather, Jason Reynolds and Cheryl Strayed. This year’s Indies First Spokesperson is Celeste Ng, whose Our Missing Hearts was reviewed at Bob on Books this week. You can view a video where she talks about Indies First. She summed up her appeal in a recent Tweet:

This Saturday, 11/26, is #IndiesFirst. And you know what makes a great holiday present? Books! If you’re not sure WHICH book, the real live people at your local independent bookseller can give you personal recommendations! Just stop in and ask them.

Celeste Ng

The IndieBound website makes it easy to find your nearest indie bookseller. Just type in your zip code, and it can help you find your nearest store in a 10, 50, or 100 mile radius. I even discovered a few nearby stores I did not know about.

So, if you are looking for books for yourself or someone else (or both) this weekend, shop Indies First. Many of the stores will have special events, even special discounts. The IndieBound website can help you find local store websites ahead of time to learn hours and of anything special going on. When you visit, you’ll meet fellow book lovers who care about connecting you with books you’ll love. You may even meet someone who writes books! And you’ll support the small business ecosystem that contributes to the flourishing of your community.