There’s encouraging news for those of us who value our local independent bookstores. The American Booksellers Association, a non-profit industry association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores in North America, reports that its membership rolls have gone up every year since 2009, from 1,401 four years ago to 1,632 this year.

At the same time, the National Endowment for the Arts reports that only 47% of Americans say they read a book for pleasure last year. Read my Spreading the Love blog post to learn how you can help improve this statistic.