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<\/a>photo credit Suzanne McBride<\/p><\/div> Or the Best Laid Plans of Munchkins and BookPeople.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOne of the things that I love best about being an independent bookseller is collaborating with members of Austin\u2019s booming creative community to engage readers all over the city and champion the\u00a0importance of books\u00a0in Austin life. Getting to do\u00a0that is the part of bookselling I probably\u00a0understood least when I transitioned from publishing 12 years ago, but now it\u2019s one of the things about this job that I enjoy most. I also think it’s an essential part of\u00a0our mission\u00a0as a community business.
\nWhen we heard that the downtown Zilker Hillside Theater was\u00a0featuring\u00a0The Wizard of Oz <\/em>for the centenary of Austin’s Zilker Park, I jumped at the chance to sponsor their performance of a story that, while perhaps best known now as a musical, has been charming readers of all ages\u00a0for over 100 years (well before Dorothy’s famous slippers ever transformed from silver into dazzling Technicolor ruby).
\nDuring our Summer Reading Kickoff Event earlier this summer, we hosted cast members for storytime followed by a costumed contest for kids, offering VIP reserved seating to 15 participating families. If you\u2019ve ever seen the crowded hillside at show time, space\u00a0you don\u2019t have to claim hours in advance is a fantastic deal. Everyone was thrilled (and adorable)!
\nDespite the fact that Zilker Theater Productions is one of the longest running free outdoor musicals in the country, I had never been. So this was a perfect opportunity, both for me and the store to be a part of an historic Austin tradition. As the night arrived, a troupe of costumed BookPeople staffers (one in homemade ruby slippers) headed to the hillside to give out copies of\u00a0The Wizard of Oz<\/em>\u00a0from gingham lined baskets,<\/a> but with rain clouds looming, our festivities were postponed. We were obviously disappointed, but that\u2019s just one of\u00a0the perils of planning live outdoor programming.
\nComing back a week later our costumed compatriots were no longer available, but despite our smaller crew, we still had a blast. Staci, our BookKids inventory manager, brought her kids, and I brought my four-year-old, and together with Eugenia, our BookKids events coordinator, we all\u00a0helped distribute free books, coupons, and summer reading bookmarks on the hillside to very happy families eager to share the original tale at home. Most of them had never read it! Then we stayed for the beautifully produced, highly entertaining show. All in all it was a magical night that made me really appreciate being a part of such a dynamic downtown.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"