Brooklyn’s bookworms will inch across the borough once again next month, as the Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl returns for its 12th straight year.
The weeklong celebration encourages Brooklynites to visit as many indie bookstores as possible in celebration of World Independent Bookstore Day on April 25.
The borough has no shortage of indie shops, from the sci-fi/fantasy loving Love & Legends Books to the scare-specialist Twisted Spine. At least six new bookshops have opened in the borough in the last year, organizers said, and a whopping 34 shops are participating in this year’s crawl.
“It’s so thrilling to have a record number of bookstores participating in this year’s crawl, with a diversity of genres and missions,” said Jessica Stockton-Bagnulo, owner of Greenlight Bookstore and an organizer of the Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl, in a statement. “Our community includes used and new bookstores, stores specializing in romantasy, food, art, and horror, queer bookstores, Spanish language bookstores, bookstore bars, and a growing number of Black owned bookstores, for a true and wonderful reflection of the Brooklyn we love.”
During the crawl, which runs from April 18-25, bibliophiles pick up a “passport” and get it stamped or signed at every participating bookstore they visit. The map is split into five geographical zones, with seven or eight shops each.
If they visit all the stores in one “zone,” participants will get a coupon good for 25% off a single purchase at any store within that zone during May or June. Particularly productive participants can visit as many zones as possible — maybe every single one — to gather up multiple coupons.
With so many participating bookstores, the 2026 passport, designed by artist Lorraine Nam, is larger than it was in past years. Nam is known for her cityscapes, and book lovers to visit all 34 stores will get a special prize: an exclusive tote featuring Nam’s original art.
“While Brooklyn is vast and made up of many different neighborhoods and identities, local bookstores are instant sources of glimmers and community,” Nam said. “With this illustration, I wanted to capture the moments of joy from Brooklynites before and after they visit their local bookstore highlighting how these spaces bring different people together in their shared love of stories.”
Those most thorough crawlers can email a photo of their completed passport to brookynbookstorecrawl@gmail.com to claim their prize.
The crawl officially ends on Independent Bookstore Day on April 25, with special celebrations, merch, activities and more at most of the participating stores. On the day, Greenlight Bookstore will host special book signings and photo ops — and will have a local illustrator on site to offer custom drawings — and will offer exclusive merch and special-edition books.
The party continues with raffles, drink specials and literary luminaries at the Center for Brooklyn Fiction’s annual Bookstore Crawl Afterparty on April 25 from 5-8 p.m.
“The hope for the Bookstore Crawl is that book lovers will discover a store they’ve never visited before that might become a new favorite, or that they might just get a sense of how rich our local literary world is,” Stockton-Bagnulo said. “All of the bookstores participating in the crawl need the support of local readers to thrive, and we hope crawlers will return to these amazing stores again and again.”
The full list of Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl Participants, by zone:
Greenpoint & Williamsburg:
Black Spring Books, 672 Driggs Ave.
leaves used bookstore, 140 Nassau Ave.
The Little Bookshop, 239 Bushwick Ave.
McNally Jackson Williamsburg, 76 North 4th St.
Quimby’s Bookstore NYC, 536 Metropolitan Ave.
The Twisted Spine, 306 Grand St.
WORD, 126 Franklin St.
Downtown & Waterfront:
Books Are Magic Smith Street, 225 Smith St.
Books Are Magic Montague St., 122 Montague St.
The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Ave.
Freebird Books, 123 Columbia St.
Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton St.
Liz’s Book Bar, 315 Smith St.
McNally Jackson Downtown Brooklyn, 445 Gold St.
Powerhouse Arena, 28 Adams St.
Bed-Stuy & Bushwick
Adanne Bookshop, 115 Ralph Ave.
BEM books & more, 373 Lewis Ave.
Cafe con Libros, 724 Prospect Place
Gladys Books & Wine, 306 Malcolm X Blvd.
Hive Mind Books, 219 Irving Ave.
Mil Mundos Books, 232 Linden St.
The Word is Change, 368 Tompkins Ave.
Park Slope & Prospect Heights
826NYC & The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co., 372 5th Ave.
Community Bookstore, 143 7th Ave.
Love & Legends Books, 667 Washington Ave.
The Nonbinarian Bookstore, 1130 President St.
Powerhouse on 8th, 1111 8th Ave.
Terrace Books, 1624 10th Ave.
Unnameable Books, 615 Vanderbilt Ave.
Points South
The BookMark Shoppe, 8415 3rd Ave.
Here’s A Book Store, Inc., 1964 Coney Island Ave.
Lofty Pigeon Books, 743 Church Ave.
Powerhouse at IC, 220 36th St. Building 2
Taylor & Co. Books, 1021 Cortelyou Road
