Administration/Projects
Send project-related
questions (Fall Discovery Show, Winter Catalog, Reading the West Book Awards, Website)
plus bills, invoices,
and payments to:

MPIBA Administration
c/o Kathy Keel
208 E. Lincoln Avenue

Fort Collins, CO 80524

Booksellers, Bookstores, and a BookMobile!

From left: Lori Feathers, Jeremy Ellis, and Nancy Perot of Interabang Books

Interabang Books
to Open in May 2017

The independent bookstore will "fill a gaping hole in the literary scene" in Dallas.

Long rumored to be in the works, Interabang Books is slated to open in May at the corner of Preston Road and Royal Lane. Owners are finalizing the lease on a 5,000-square-foot site that will carry 12,000 titles and focus on fiction, children's books and creative nonfiction. It will have space for up to 100 people for book signings, and a children's stage for story times.

The store's name derives from a punctuation mark that is a cross between a question mark and an exclamation point.

Plans were announced Tuesday. In an interview, general manager Jeremy Ellis said that the store will be roughly a third the size of the Barnes & Noble across the intersection.

The intersection, he says, "is kind of a literary sweet spot in Dallas, for whatever reason, I don't know. The Borders that was there was always very successful, even at the end of the Borders corporate failure. That Barnes & Noble is a popular destination. We will be different."

"It's about creating a community ..."

"Successful independent bookstores are successful because you have staff that is passionate about sharing their love of books all the time. To do that you have to carry books they are passionate about .... We're not going to try to carry one of everything. We're going to carry books that we're reading and want you to be reading.

"Things will be cheaper in other places for sure. But it's not about getting the deepest discount. It's about creating a community and supporting that community. And that is fundamental to every great independent bookstore's experience."

Ellis says that the store will offer some kind of coffee service and that he's pursuing a limited beer and wine license, but future customers should not expect a full-service cafe. "Central Market is right there," he says. The store will go into a currently empty space between Sample House & Candle Shop and Hollywood Feed.

Interabang has the potential to fill a gaping hole in the city's literary scene. Although the area is well-served by several Barnes & Noble and Half Price Books locations, Dallas has not had a full-service independent bookstore for years. The Wild Detectives, in Bishop Arts, is popular hangout with a limited number of titles; Deep Vellum Books in Deep Ellum has focused on titles from independent publishing houses.

Interabang's owners have the resources and experience to make their idea work.

MPIBA Board Member Jeremy Ellis
to be Operating Partner

Ellis, who holds the additional title of operating partner, has a long history in Dallas bookselling. He began his career at Taylors Books and was events coordinator at Legacy Books in Plano. In a phone interview, he explained that he had been exploring the idea of opening a Dallas branch of Houston's Brazos Bookstore, where he had been general manager. (He and Brazos are parting amicably, he says.)

During his explorations, he met with Lori Feathers, who came to visit him in Houston to seek advice on opening her own store. "She didn't have a books background, but she is a passionate reader who has worked to get into book circles nationally," he says. Feathers is a co-owner and will be the store's book buyer.

While working together on a plan, they met Nancy Perot, daughter of billionaire H. Ross. The store's website explains that Nancy Perot had been imagining an independent bookstore in Dallas for more than 25 years: "When Jeremy and I were introduced, everything just started falling into place as though it was meant to be." Perot is the store's owner.

Given all the perceived headwinds against small bookstores, it's fair to ask: Are the owners crazy?

"There is something a little crazy about it ..."

The American Booksellers Association says - not necessarily. Membership in the group - a barometer of the indies' overall health - has grown for seven years in a row, according to data the ABA provided Tuesday. For all of 2016, sales at independent bookstores were up just under 5 percent over 2015.

Ellis laughs at the question about their sanity. "There is something a little crazy about it. ... But I believe in the power of community. Books are social. Something like 2,000 books come out every week - the volume of merchandise is so enormous, you need something better than an algorithm on a website to tell you what's good."

-DallasNews.com, January 17, 2017

-Follow Interabang's progress on Facebook.

First Kent Haruf Literary Celebration Planned in Salida

Kent Haruf (1943-2014) received the Lifetime Literary Achievement Award
from MPIBA in 2013. Mr. Haruf is pictured with, from left,
Anne Holman, Laura Burnett, and Betsy Burton.

The first Kent Haruf Literary Celebration will be held September 22 - 24, 2017 at the SteamPlant Event Center in Salida, Colorado.

Check-in begins on Friday, September 22, 2017, from 3:00 - 5:00 and continues Saturday morning, September 23, from 8:00 - 9:00 during the breakfast buffet.

The Literary Celebration opens with Chris Outcalt's Plenary Speech entitled "Kent Haruf: The Man and His Work."
Morning and afternoon sessions will include presentations and discussions of central themes, images, characters, and relationships in Haruf's novels, his distinctive style and method of crafting his works, as well as the geography and culture of Colorado so central to his works.

BK Loren is leading a session on creative writing, emphasizing Haruf's treatment of place. Sue Hodson, curator of Literary Manuscripts at The Huntington Library in San Marino, California, will also speak.

Carol Samson and The Chalk Horse Theater will present "HarufSpeak: An Adaptation of Selected Haruf Writings" on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. And on Sunday morning, attendees will have an opportunity to participate in a Q and A with Cathy Haruf.

To register, and for more information, go to:

honorkentharuf.org/literary celebration

Thank you to Lisa Marvel
for sending this information to MPIBA. Lisa is the owner of member bookstore, The Book Haven in Salida, Colorado, and she is the contact person for this celebration.

BookBar Announces
Mavis the Magical BookMobile

BookBar recently purchased Mavis, a refurbished 1994 ambulance.
BookBar recently purchased Mavis the Magical BookMobile from BookBar employee Anna Kongs. In the fall of 2015 Kongs converted a 1994 ambulance into a bookmobile and started a non-profit organization with the mission of getting books to those in need.

BookBar owner Nicole Sullivan had been thinking about starting her own bookmobile
since opening her store.

When Kongs came to work for BookBar in 2016 the two talked about collaborating on this venture. However, as Kongs furthered her graduate studies in Library Science, she realized that running a non-profit organization while obtaining a master's degree would be challenging. She began to look for alternatives for Mavis.

BookBar was fortunate enough to be able to purchase Mavis in December 2016. Sullivan immediately promoted Kongs to bookmobile manager.

Kongs and Sullivan will spend the rest of the winter months creating a business plan
for Mavis and completing some upgrades to the interior and exterior of the vehicle. In Spring 2017 Kongs and Sullivan will roll out Mavis to continue on with her charitable mission of book donations as well as be available for both on- and off-site BookBar events and school visits. Also in the works are 'on the road' author events, such as mobile book signings, and streamed mobile author interviews.

Information about Mavis the Magical
BookBar BookMobile
will soon be available through BookBar social media and website. Until then, you can learn more about her and Kongs here: http://www.mavisbookmobile.com/

Boulder Book Store Announces
The Nobel Lecture Series 2017

Boulder Book Store and the University of Colorado at Boulder Present The Nobel Lecture Series Spring 2017

Join Boulder Book Store for a series of lectures on Nobel-Prize-winning authors from around the world.

The lectures will be presented by faculty from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

February Lecture: Monday, February 27, 7:00pm

Dario Fo - presented by Professor Valerio Ferme (Department of French & Italian, Associate Dean for the Arts and Humanities). Dario Fo was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997; this Italian playwright and actor emulated the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.

The lecture series is free, open to the public.
Refreshments will be served. *Please note: authors will NOT be present at the lectures in this series. For more information, visit Boulder Book Store's website.

Reading the West Book Awards 2016 Nominated Titles

Please visit MPIBA's website to view the books in nomination for this year's awards process.

		The Reading the West Book Awards are announced in 2017, for books published in calendar year 2016. Categories are Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, and Children's. Please click here to visit this page on our website.