Independent Bookstore Day is a one-day national party that takes place at indie bookstores across the country on the last Saturday in April. These spots are worth supporting this weekend in the spirit of the concept.
We are so lucky to have so many great options in and around the seacoast to shop local for books!
Shop your Local Bookstores!
Exeter, NH
Water Street Bookstore
125 Water Street, Exeter
603-778-9731
A friendly downtown neighborhood bookstore is a treasure and has a whole children’s section dedicated to all the classic favorites and the fun new releases. The staff here is very friendly and knowledgeable.
Portsmouth, NH
G. Willikers! Books & Toys
13 Market St, Portsmouth
603-436-7746
This is one of our favorite local book & toy shops on the Seacoast! They help build curious young readers and healthy, playful children by offering books, toys, games, puzzles, crafts and fun creative activities too!
Portsmouth Book Nook
32 Daniel Street, Portsmouth
603-380-7274
Celebrate Independent Book Store Day with an audiobook walk through Portsmouth!
Start at the Portsmouth Book Nook at 10:00 am to get a free mini Loon chocolate bar and browse the shelves. Come with your own audiobook already downloaded or download a new audiobook through Libro.FM. Our staff will be available to help you set up your Libro.FM account and link it to our shop so that you can support the Portsmouth Book Nook with your audiobook purchases.
Leave at 10:30 am to start the stroll around Prescott Park and Peirce Island while listening to your audiobook. Don’t forget your headphones!
Wrap up your audiobook walk with a beverage and more book store browsing at Reedmor Books & Brews (opening at 11:00 am). Reedmor will offer special drink deals for audiobook walkers! Register here!
Bull Moose
1981 Woodbury Ave, Portsmouth
603-422-9525
Sheafe Street Books
29 Sheafe St, Portsmouth
603-498-5202
Called the “Best Small Bookshop” in New England by Yankee Magazine. You’ll be able to find books on Beat literature, Poetry, New England and the classics.
Lee, NH
Avenue Victor Hugo Books
Lee, NH
(603) 331-4365
Avenue Victor Hugo Books is now online-only, selling on all major marketplaces and through our own store at shop.avenuevictorhugobooks.com. To stay connected with the store, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or subscribe to our very-infrequent email newsletter.
Newburyport, MA
Jabberwocky Bookshop
50 Water St #22, Newburyport
978-465-9359
Located in the Tannery Marketplace this wonderful book shop offers a special children’s section where you will find all the books for every age. They offer a 20% discount to teachers on books that will be used in their classroom too! Learn more about Newburyport Literacy Festival events happening the same weekend here!
Illume Books
10 Market Square, Newburyport
Highly curated books, journals & more.
York, ME
The Booktenders
463 US-1, York
(207) 361-4386
Join us as we celebrate one of our favorite days of the year! Mark your calendar: Independent Bookstore Day is back and bigger than ever for its 13th anniversary on Saturday, April 25, 2026! This nationwide celebration is all about honoring our cherished independent bookstores both in-store and online, and you’re invited to join the party!
Wells, ME
Annie’s Book Stop
676 Post Rd # 7, Wells
207-646-3821
From Classics to Best Sellers, Romance, Mystery, and Westerns, current Biography, heart pounding Thrillers and Science Fiction. A perfect browsing place for book lovers of all ages and sizes.
Worth the Extended Trip?
Here are some other wonderful independent bookstores that are a little bit more of a drive from the seacoast area but definitely worth the trip for readers who love to visit a great bookstore.
Concord, NH
Gibson’s Bookstore
45 South Main Street, Concord, NH
Manchester, NH
Bookery
844 Elm Street, Manchester, NH
North Conway, NH
White Birch Books
2568 White Mountain Hwy, North Conway, NH
Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day with our scenic New Hampshire Bookstore Trail!
As part of Indie Bookstore Day, we have partnered up with two other bookstores – The Country Bookseller in Woldeboro and Innisfree Bookshops in Meredith and Laconia – in northern New Hampshire to offer you a fun, little bookstore trail over the course of the weekend of April 24-26th.
Here’s how it works – start your trek by picking up your free passport at any of the participating bookstores. Throughout the weekend, collect a passport stamp as you visit each of the three stores*. Once you’ve collected all three stamps, fill out a form at your final location to be entered to win a prize!
You can visit all three bookstores in one day, or visit one each day. However you do it, you’ll be sure to have a good time, enjoy some beautiful scenery, and support your favorite independent bookstores. Sounds like a win-win!
Prizes:
One grand prize winner will receive a $50 gift card to each of the three participating bookstores (total prize valued at $150)
Six runners-up will receive a $25 gift card to one of the three participating bookstores (bookstore selected at random)
Rules:
No purchase necessary
Must receive a stamp from all three bookstores between April 24-26th to be entered to win
Winners will be selected in a random drawing by May 9th
*While Innisfree Bookshop has locations in both Meredith & Laconia, only one of these locations must be visited in order to enter (participant’s choice)
Bonus! Do you like audiobooks? Well, I absolutely love my Libro.fm membership. It is a website that allows you to purchase audiobooks and they split the profits with the local bookshop of your choice. To celebrate independent bookstore day, you can earn a free audiobook by submitting proof of purchase of books at your local indie. Find out more here.
What are some of your favorite children’s books? Let us know in the comments below!
