“All You Need to Know” Event Tips during March Madness at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA 

Attendees at Little Shop’s March Madness represented sixteen stores from Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Morning education, presented by Little Shop’s staff, was “All Things Kids.” Topics included handselling with a focus on children and teens, planning fun authorless family-friendly events, like book clubs, story times, and summer camps, and creating successful school and community partnerships. The staff and owner Diana Capriola generously shared their programming best practices and struggles, and took questions from booksellers. 

After a delightfull luncheon with presentations by authors Terry J. Benton-Walker, Julie Lee, and Daniel Nayeri, booksellers took part in a free-wheeling discussion on what’s working and not working at their stores. Book banning came up several times, as several stores are witnessing and responding to forms of banning in their local school systems. Owner Diane Capriola spoke about the increasing importance of access to children's books in independent bookstores, saying "We may become the only places left where kids see themselves in the books they read."  Little Shop ended our March Madness event with story time readings just for us, complete with noisemakers! 

Best Practices Sheet from Little Shop of Stories