One of the highlights of the annual New Voices New Rooms Conference happens before the event officially starts: the pre-show Bus Tours of area indie bookshops. Because of its location in Arlington, there are a wide range of great indie bookshops worth visiting. Bus tours are scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, August 8. NVNR will be hosting five different tours to area bookstores, and a special tour of the Library of Congress.

Tours all run concurrently from 12-5 PM and include a box lunch. As a new added feature, each bookstore tour will include a short discussion from the host store on an aspect of the book business they feel they do especially well.

Every bookseller knows that some of the best ideas come from other booksellers. With six different available tours, every booksellers should be able to find something that appeals to them. But to ensure a quality experience for both the NVNR attendees and the hosting stores, space is limited to 22 people on any one tour.

NVNR Bus Tours require an extra $50 ticket, available to purchase when you register. Attendees will be able to select the tour they want to attend from their NVNR Attendee App, which will be available at the end of June. If you have already registered and did not buy a bus tour ticket, you will also be able to purchase one via the attendee app when it opens.

Register Here

2024 Bus Tour Details
(see more details of each tour at the NVNR Website)

Tour 1: Scrawl Books, Hooray for Books!
Scrawl Books: Dig Deeper with Edelweiss
Hooray For Books!: Reader Advisory Groups

Tour 2: East City Bookshop, Solid State Books
East City Bookshop: Store Design
Solid State Books: Staff Safety

Tour 3: Loyalty Bookstores, Child's Play!
Loyalty Bookstores: Monetizing & Tracking Displays
Child’s Play!: Kid Friendly Spaces

Tour 4: Politics and Prose, Sankofa Video Books & Cafe
Politics and Prose: Store Trips and Classes
Sankofa Video Books & Cafe: Community Relationships

Tour 5: Bold Fork Books, The Potter's House, Lost City Books
Bold Fork Books: Events
The Potter’s House: Diversity Audit  
Lost City Books: Used and New Books

Tour 6: Library of Congress
A special peek at the Poet Laureate’s Ceremonial Office at the Library of Congress, and a docent-led tour.