Around Indies

Monkey See, Monkey Do Recognized for Outstanding Programming

Kim Krug, who opened Monkey See, Monkey Do in 2009 with her mother, Kathleen Skoog, was featured this week on Buffalonews.com. The Clarence, New York, bookstore was honored this year with the Women’s National Book Association Pannell Award, for bringing books and young people together.

Krug told Buffalo News that her aim was to not only open a bookstore, but also create a place to inspire creativity and learning — one that offered summer camps, literary activities, and book-themed birthday parties.

Children who take part in the store’s enriched programming are “not just reading a book and going on to the next,” Krug said. “They’re writing about that book, they’re discussing that book, they’re doing an activity based on that book. We feel we’ve really helped spark that excitement in reading and learning again.”

Mysterious Galaxy Welcomes Café

Customers who frequent Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in Redondo Beach, California, can now pick up a cup of coffee from Catalina Coffee & Café. To celebrate this week’s opening, the café is offering complementary baked goods and a chance for customers to meet the new staff.

In February, Mysterious Galaxy co-owner Terry Gilman talked to the Redondo Beach Patch about plans for the café. “We’re thrilled because we’re like-minded, both independently, locally owned businesses,” she said. “They share a love of books and they share our vision of what we’re bringing to the community in terms of events and authors and programming.”

A Decade of Duck’s Cottage

To mark its 10^th anniversary, North Carolina’s Duck’s Cottage Coffee & Books created a video slideshow on YouTube that highlights some memorable moments from the past decade.

Ducks manager Jamie Layton sent the video via the store newsletter and told customers: “Whether you are a year round resident of Duck, an Outer Banks local, or a visitor we only get to see once or twice a year, please know how much we truly appreciate your patronage and support of this independent, locally owned business. We would not be where we are today without you — the best customers in the world!”