Sign In | Register
Booksellers Guide to TRIO

TRIO LOGO

TRIO 2019: The Booksellers Resource Page

What | Why | Who | Where | FAQs | What Now? | Useful Stuff

What is TRIO?

TRIO is a traveling exhibit of art, music and literature that celebrates the inspirational power of great storytelling. First conceived by Shari Smith of Working Title Farm, and a writer and singer for "The Shoe Burnin' Show," TRIO is a testament to the way words, music and art can come together around the power of a single story. Each TRIO starts with a book, which is given to a musician and a visual artist, who then write a song, a piece of music, a work of art inspired by the story.

The TRIO exhibit debuts at the SIBA Discovery Show, and then travels around the South for the next twelve months, hosted by and sponsored by SIBA member bookstores.

Why Trio?

SIBA sees TRIO as a unique opportunity for its members. Its mission is closely aligned with independent bookstore values, with the values of readers, of anyone who has ever been inspired by a book. The exhibit is an example of the real world power of real world connections, and can't be mimicked in a virtual environment. It is an unusual, unique event that mirrors the unusual and unique nature of SIBA member stores. By bringing TRIO to their town, a SIBA store can create ties with other community organizations, reach new audiences, and bring attention to the store:

We really enjoyed having the TRIO exhibit up in the store. It looked great and drew attention from our customers and lots of conversations. The event itself was very special, with the talented musicians, writers and artists presenting their portions of the collaboration. Thank you for sending it our way.
~ Karen Hayes, Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN

We enjoyed the benefits of goodwill, publicity and reinforcing our connections with the local population. We also sold some books which were related to the exhibit. This was a very positive benefit for Eagle Eye due to the small amount of effort compared to the increased public awareness for our book store.
~ Doug Robinson, Eagle Eye Book Shop, Atlanta, GA

The TRIO Exhibit hosted by NewSouth Books was displayed against the windows of a commercial building on Montgomery's Court Square, facing up historic Dexter Avenue to the state capitol. This is one of the busiest areas in Montgomery, and the exhibit was lighted and thus available to anyone passing by 24/7 for the duration of the exhibit. It was up during the early part of the summer, when the weather was nice and downtown was full of tourists milling about in the vicinity of the exhibit. We supplemented the exhibit's built-in signage with a large banner/poster explaining NewSouth's sponsorship and giving directions to our store where the featured books were on display and could be purchased. We have no way of knowing how many people viewed the exhibit, but we received many favorable comments about it.
~ Randall Williams, NewSouth Bookstore, Montgomery, AL