Under pressure from online retail giants and big bookseller chains, independent bookstores like Wellington Square Bookshop are grouping together to find new ways to survive, writes Peter Crimmins for NewsWorks.

The Exton bookstore was one of 15 shops in the region that took part in a cross-promotional event for Independent Bookstore Day on the last Saturday of April.

Participants in the event were given a map marked with all 15 independent bookstores, and encouraged to visit as many as they could within one day.

While the task was not an easy one, as visiting all 15 stores involved driving hundreds of miles, it was the ideal chance for book lovers to show support for bookstores across the region.

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In addition to Wellington Square Bookshop, participants needed to visit six bookstores in Philadelphia, four in Bucks County, three on the Main Line, and one in Collegeville.

Each store stamped the participants’ maps, and the more stamps they got, so did their chance of winning a prize. The most dedicated who managed to visit all 15 stores were entered into the draw for the grand prize, a one-on-one lunch with a local author.

Read more about the event at NewsWorks here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of Wellington Square Bookshop here.

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