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.
The Bus Tour Details:
Tour 1: Scrawl Books, Hooray for Books!
Scrawl Books: Dig Deeper with Edelweiss Get the most out of Edelweiss beyond ordering.
The team from Scrawl Books will show you how they use lists and collections for Returns, Book Fairs and multi-book offsite events.
Hooray For Books!: Reader Advisory Groups
Some stores have ARC clubs for teens, and we’ve had them, too. But teens aren’t the only ones who want to read books before they’re published: their younger siblings and even their parents want in on this perk. So, over the years, our ARC clubs morphed into advisory councils, and some members of the advisory councils have even joined our staff. We’ll be happy to share how the councils work and how they’ve benefitted the store.
Tour 2: East City Bookshop, Solid State Books
East City Bookshop: Store Design
East City Bookshop is a space that is not, objectively, ideal for retail. Owner Laurie Gillman made a tradeoff to secure below-market rent, and it’s paid off. People love the space. Join this tour to learn about making difficult floorplans work, and less-expensive ways to make things look nice.
Solid State Books: Staff Safety
Defend Yourself will join us to share their expertise on staff safety in your store, from store layout to all the ways we can take care of ourselves including physical and verbal skills.
Tour 3: Loyalty Bookstores, Child’s Play!
Loyalty Bookstores: Monetizing & Tracking Displays
Whether thoughtfully pre-planned or created on a whim, displays and merchandising must be more than just attractive – they must sell through. Loyalty Bookstores will show you their methodology for evaluating successful displays and what they’ve learned.
Child’s Play!: Kid Friendly Spaces
No matter the size of your children’s section or store, it should be engaging and inviting to children. See how Child’s Play creative displays and staff training make this a fun place for children of all ages.
Tour 4: Politics and Prose, Sankofa Video Books & Cafe
Politics and Prose: Store Trips and Classes
Politics and Prose has made a name for itself with unique programming that includes online and hybrid classes, salon discussions, local walking tours, day trips, and international trips. Hear how these are organized and see how you can adapt this to work with your customers and community.
Sankofa Video Books & Cafe: Community Relationships
Founded in 1998 by filmmaking couple Haile and Shirikiana Gerima, Sankofa specializes in books and videos about people of African descent around the world. Sankofa carries with it an expectation of quality and discovery. Sankofa Café was added to the premises in 2007, adding a combined charm to the video and book business that attracts the hungry and the inquisitive. Sankofa owes its success to its relationship to its community and will share its approach with you when you come and visit during NVNR.
Tour 5: Bold Fork Books, The Potter’s House, Lost City Books
Bold Fork Books: Events
Bold Fork Books makes bold decisions when it comes to events. Their events have a fee, added value (food or drink) and a consistently high sell-through. They’ve created strong customer loyalty and a deeply connected community through their inclusive and interactive gatherings. As an added bonus to their idea-sharing, they’ll discuss their Cookbook Club model, which is fun, successful, and SELLS (yes, all caps) books.
The Potter’s House: Diversity Audit
The Potter’s House worked closely with an elementary school to do a diversity audit of their library. This included a review of the school collection, creating a recommended title list, and a purchase order from the school. Hear how this was done, what they learned in the process, and how you can take this idea to your schools.
Lost City Books: Used and New Books
Lost City Books will show you how they incorporate used and new books in their store, how they handle online sales and backstock for their unique inventory.
Tour 6: Library of Congress
NVNR booksellers will be treated to a special peek at the Poet Laureate’s Ceremonial Office at the Library of Congress, along with a docent-led tour with a focus on the history and function of the Library including information about the art and architecture of the Jefferson Building.