Mat-Su bookstores recognized by statewide organization
Fireside Books in Palmer and Black Birch Books in Wasilla were singled out.
Alaskans love their local bookstores!
When the Alaska Center for the Book issued a call for nominations for outstanding independent books stores, the response brought the names of 25 locally based bookstores all over the state from Utqiaġvik to Ketchikan and Haines to Kodiak.
In celebration of Independent Booksellers Day, Saturday, April 25, 2026, the Alaska Center for the Book is recognizing these hometown bookstores for their work to promote literature and literacy in Alaska. Given the often-challenging business environment for independent booksellers, ACB believes it is more important than ever to acknowledge the valuable contribution these businesses make to their communities and to the state.
The national sponsor of Independent Booksellers Day, the last Saturday in April, writes: “Independent Bookstore Day is organized by the American Booksellers Association, a national not-for-profit trade organization, that works with booksellers and industry partners to ensure the success and profitability of independently owned book retailers, and to assist in expanding the community of the book.”
The Alaska Center for the Book instituted this recognition of Alaska booksellers to parallel its long-time Contributions to Literature in Alaska (CLIA) Awards, which recognize individuals and institutions who have made a significant contribution in the battle for literacy, to the literary arts, or to the preservation of the written or spoken word in Alaska. The Center for the Book understands that a bookseller’s impact is felt primarily in their own community, yet combined, these efforts do much to contribute to the literary scene in Alaska.
If there is an independent bookseller near you, pay them a visit on April 25 and thank them for their contribution to your community.
To learn more about the Alaska Center for the Book, visit the website.
Honored Booksellers
- Black Birch Books, Wasilla
- Fireside Books, Palmer
- Alaska Robotics, Juneau
- Beauty and the Book, Anchorage
- Bosco's, Anchorage
- Comic Shop, Fairbanks
- Dreamland Books and Yarn, Seward
- Forget-Me-Not Books, Fairbanks
- Friends of the Library Amazing Bookstore, Juneau
- Good News Bible and Bookstore, Fairbanks
- Hearthside Books and Toys, Juneau
- Homer Bookstore, Homer
- Iḷlsaġvik College Bookstore, Utqiaġvik
- Islander Bookshop, Kodiak
- Ivy Bookshop, Fairbanks
- Mosquito Books, Anchorage
- Observance of Hermits, Homer
- Old Harbor Books, Sitka
- Old Inlet Bookshop, Homer
- Parnassus Books, Ketchikan
- River City Books, Soldotna
- Solstice Books, Fairbanks
- The Bookstore, Haines
- Title Wave, Anchorage
- Writer's Block, Anchorage