Larry Portzline of the National Council of Bookstore Tourism announced plans earlier this morning for a “Why Indie Bookstores Matter” tour, during which he plans to drive from one end of the continental United States to the other, then fly to Hawaii and Alaska, in order to visit with roughly 200 indie bookstores. At each stp, he’ll ask shopowners and customers why they believe indies are important, posting their answers (along with photos) on his blog.
Portzline isn’t setting out until April 2008, but you can start making recommendations for his itinerary now. He’s also collecting donations to defray the cost of the trip; chip in enough and you get to ride shotgun in his minivan for a day. All I have to say is, I hope he’s a good packer—even if he only buys one book at each store, he’s going to have his hands full pretty quickly…