This is a map of every independent bookstore in the United States. Hopefully it helps you find where you’ll purchase your next read!
A Map for Book Lovers
It’s easy to purchase your favorite books from Barnes & Noble or Amazon and have them shipped directly to your door. I get it. I use these companies plenty of times myself. But lately, I’ve been trying to shop a little closer to home. My area does not have many independent bookstores near me, but when I’m in a larger city, I do my best to shop mom and pop rather than big box. That’s how I came up with this list of independent bookstores across the United States. Using Yelp I collected data on all the independent bookstores (over 3500!) and built this map. It makes it easy to find booksellers near you. I also included the independent bookstores that I myself have visited. If you want to ask if it’s worth visiting, I’ll happily send you my review. Some of these shops you can read about throughout my blog!
How to Use the Map
I’m including some directions for how to make the most use out of the map. If you hover over any of the shops, it will show you their contact information and Yelp rating at the time of web-scraping.
To understand the filters, I have three different options to take advantage of. The first and most straightforward is the State filter. Filter by where you live or maybe even where you’re visiting if you’re planning a trip.
The next is a search bar for the independent bookstore Name. I’m guilty of half remembering the name of somewhere I want to visit, so even if you only know that “red” or “Main Street’ were in the title of the shop, this filter should be dynamic enough to get you started.
The final filter is Has Bookmarq Visited? These bookstores appear with a different colored marker to show that I myself have visited in the past and provided my own rating.
Help me Improve!
This is V1, and I’ll only be improving it as my developer skills grow. The goal is to make it easier to shop local without compromising on the books we love so very much. If you have any feedback, like better usability or data integrity (please share if my web-scraping missed your favorite local shop!), send me an email at [email protected] or use our Contact Form. Happy book hunting!
Emily Holloway
