On March 19, Maven Space hosted the kick-off party for the second annual Indy Indie Book Crawl (IIBC) with booths from various sponsored literary organizations and Indy’s Silent Book Club. Guests got to pick up a copy of the IIBC bookmark and bingo cards, catch up with friends, and spend time reading.
Guests were encouraged to bring whatever book they were reading, mingle with friends, and check out the sponsored tables at the event. These partners, sponsors, and Indianapolis literary organizations had tables with more information about their organization at the event.
Indy Public Libraries had a booth that connected with readers and highlighted their related tasks on the bingo sheet. This included an opportunity for participants to cross off a bingo space by taking a selfie with their library card and tagging @indylibrary. In addition to getting a free library card, readers could also share their current favorite book and vote on their preferred method of reading (audiobook, e-book, or physical book).
Indy Humanities also had a booth for The Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards which aims to support local authors. Every other year, nine awards are given out to Indiana authors to celebrate their works and shine a light on Indiana’s literary community. The next Indiana Authors Awards will be announced in August 2026.
IU’s Ray Bradbury Center is one of the largest single author archives in the United States. This museum is home to over 100,000 pages of Bradbury’s published and unpublished works as well as over 40 years of his personal and professional correspondence. The Ray Bradbury Center welcomes scholars, students, and other members of the public to explore Bradbury’s life and legacy.
Maywright Property Co., Butler University’s Creative Writing MFA Program, and Indiana Historical Society’s Basile History Market were also present at the IIBC Kick-Off Party.
The second annual IIBC began on March 20, the day after the Kick-Off Party. Lasting through the weekend, participants were encouraged to explore as many bookstores as possible in the four-day period. Prizes were awarded to a few lucky raffle winners where entries were based on how many stores an individual visited. Three lucky raffle winners received baskets of books and other bookstore merchandise along with $100 worth of bookstore gift cards. Additionally, four bingo raffle winners received a UVA Wine Tasting Experience, a free hotel stay at a Bottleworks Hotel, a Pedego E-Bike experience, or a free bookstore photography session with BeeTakesPics.
By the time Sunday rolled around, most people were wrapping up their book crawl adventures, but Jordan Flowers, an IIBC participant, was still on the go. Tomorrow Bookstore and The Whispering Shelf were among her favorites of the seven bookstores she had visited so far. Flowers mentioned that she feels better about buying from a local independent bookstore than she does buying from a big corporation.
“It’s fun to check out some of the stores that I haven’t been to before,” Flowers said. “I love to read, but I sometimes stick to the places that I know. So it’s been nice to kind of explore around the city and find some new places to buy books. Especially in this day in age with Amazon it is easy to get a book that might be a little less expensive, but it’s important to shop small and support local independent bookstores.”
We had a wonderful time hosting the Indy’s Silent Book Club, and the IIBC Kick-Off Party and wanted to extend a huge thanks to everyone who showed up and participated in the book crawl to support local booksellers. Click here to see the full gallery of photos.
Elle Rotter is an intern and contributing writer at Indy Maven who loves to cover all things books. Elle is currently a student at Butler University studying journalism and strategic communications. She is also a freelance writer and photographer. You may also see her frequently covering events happening throughout Indianapolis.
SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM
All of our content—including this article—is entirely free. However, we’d love it if you would please consider supporting our journalism with an Indy Maven Membership.
P.S. Sign up for our weekly newsletter with stories like this delivered to your inbox every Thursday!
