Photo courtesy of Morgan Trinker.
0413 Church Street Interior
Customers enjoy coffee and conversation at Church Street Coffee and Books in Crestline.
Church Street Coffee & Books will be giving books away for free later this month. Starting April 22, a city-wide Bookstravaganza scavenger hunt will give clues to dozens of local businesses that will be handing out free books from Church Street.
Solving each puzzle to win the prizes starts by gathering clues, distributed throughout the day on Church Street’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. The first person to guess each clue correctly and travel to the location it leads to can claim a free book as a prize.
“We love to see people excited about books, and we love promoting other local, independent businesses,” said Church Street co-owner Carrie Rollwagen. “We think a scavenger hunt is a great way to have fun with both of those things.”
To kick off Bookstravaganza, Church Street is bringing bestselling author Jenny Milchman to speak about her murder-mystery, Cover of Snow, on Monday, April 22 at 7 p.m. The event is free, and all are welcome. Milchman will speak about her writing process and take questions about her book.
Building on the book theme, Tuesday night is World Book Night, a national event where volunteers distribute free books at various locations around the world. The books are donated by authors and publishers who have waived their royalties and fees to promote the culture of reading. At this year’s World Book Night, Church Street volunteers will distribute hundreds of free books as surprise gifts in 100s of undisclosed locations around the city.
In addition, Church Street will have discounts on their books in conjunction with the scavenger hunt throughout the week. To learn how much each book is discounted, customers will scan the books with their smartphones. Rollwagon said discounts range from 10 to 50 percent off, and some books will give you a free cookie or cup of coffee.
“The discounts range from 10 percent off all the way to 50 percent off,” Rollwagen said. “And some books will earn you a free cookie or cup of coffee.”
“We believe you create something with your purchases,” co-owner Cal Morris said. “We want to create a better, stronger community by buying from local businesses. And, of course, we want to create a culture of books.”
