Happy May! This has been a very eventful spring for TBR Books!
In this newsletter, you’ll find our FINAL LOCATION UPDATE (yay), a new artisan announcement, and some monthly book recommendations. This month is PACKED with awareness campaigns and celebrations. We have tried to include as many as possible and to do them justice.
The Final Location Update
We did it! We finally moved!
Thank you very much to everyone who has been waiting patiently with us while we yearned and planned for this. It has been an adventure!
If you’ve been to our temporary space, you know how small it was (600 square feet). While it was very cozy, we didn’t have much room to breathe. Our new space is three times the size, and we have room to breathe and grow! We’ve already started making it cozy, but it’ll be a while before it feels complete.
Please stop by! Our new address is 109 West 1st Street, O’Fallon, IL 62269. We are located right next to Wood Bakery, so if you want books and you’re craving delicious donuts or desserts, you can do both in one stop! Our hours are 10am-6pm Tuesday-Friday and 9am-5pm on Saturday. We are closed on Sunday and Monday.
Our friend Michelle of Vixen Nails has been decorating our windows with gorgeous seasonal murals, so it’s hard to miss us!
Ribbon Cutting Announcement!
We will be having our grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, May 28 from 12pm – 12:20pm.
Lena’s scream of excitement does not translate well into newsletter form, but we promise we are elated about this!
We hope you’ll be able to join us for our special day!
Simply Stylish Stitches
TBR Books is excited to announce that Simply Stylish Stitches now has a display in our store for handmade book-themed goodies! We’ve got embroidered tote bags, embroidered sweatshirts, and bookmarks!
Katrice Faulkner, the owner, has been embroidering for 20 years. She is getting back into reading and prefers paperback books, although she also reads on Kindle. Katrice makes small batches of everything because she enjoys what she does and takes the time to make them with care.
Her crafts are not mass-produced: it’s just her sitting in front of a 16-needle embroidery machine, sometimes late at night. She plans to change the theme of the display around the 15th of every month.
Attention Artisans!
Our new space has more room to display locally-made crafts. If you’re interested in becoming one of our artisans, please view our Artisans and Vendors page, where you’ll find answers to your questions as well as an application to fill out. We look forward to hosting your work!
Mental Health Awareness Month
May has been Mental Health Awareness Month, which was founded in 1949 by Mental Health America. An estimated 1 in 5 adults in the US lives with mental illness. It is nothing to be ashamed of, and one of the purposes of Mental Health Awareness Month is to destigmatize mental illness.
The theme of this year’s celebration is “Have more good days together,” and Mental Health America has action guides and educational material if you’re interested. Illinois Department of Human Services is also a good resource for those of us in Illinois.
If you are in crisis, please call or text 988, or you can chat with the crisis line at 988lifeline.org/chat.
As usual, we’ve got a few book recommendations for adults and kids! Click the banner below to find them.
Military Appreciation Month
Since 1999, May has been designated Military Appreciation Month. This makes perfect sense because May has quite a few military holidays, including VE Day (May 8), Military Spouse Appreciation Day (May 8), Armed Forces Day (May 16), and Memorial Day (May 25).
While it’s pretty safe to say that none of us support war, we do support our military personnel and veterans. O’Fallon is close to Scott Air Force Base, and our community is enriched by the presence of military members and their families. We love the diversity! If you’re looking for a VFW, Sgt. Charles A. Fricke VFW Post 805 is just down the street from us in downtown O’Fallon.
Our owner Lena comes from a military family herself, with both her father and brother honored by the military banners along First Street.
We have some interesting military-related book recommendations!
Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Since 1992, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage has been celebrated the entire month of May. The celebration originally started as 10 days in May in 1979. AAPI is a broad term that encompasses people from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands, including Hawai’i. Another term is AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander). The theme for this year’s AANHPI Heritage Month is “Power in Unity: Strengthening Communities Together.”
Click the banner below for book recommendations!
Jewish American
Heritage Month
May is also Jewish American Heritage Month. Judaism has existed for nearly 4,000 years and is one of the world’s earliest monotheistic religions, although not all US Jews are necessarily religious. Jewish people have been in North America since long before the creation of the United States – first arriving in New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1654. Jewish American Heritage Month was established by George W Bush in 2006.
Click the banner below for book recommendations for adults and kids!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10th this year.
It was established as a national holiday in the US in 1914, although some states celebrated earlier. Anna Jarvis, the activist daughter of activist Ann Jarvis, campaigned to establish Mother’s Day as a way to honor her mother. Credit is also often given to Julia Ward Howe, a poet, newspaper editor, and activist.
Mother’s Day often brings up big or heavy feelings for a lot of people. Whether you have a good relationship with your mom or not, we hope you have a wonderful day.
Tap the banner below for some cute Mother’s Day recommendations for kids!
Literary Celebrations This Month
Short Story Month
May is Short Story Month, originally started by Dan Wickett of the Emerging Writers Network (EWN). If you’re into short stories, we have a shelf that houses a variety of genres!
Get Caught Reading Month
May is Get Caught Reading Month, sponsored by the Association of American Publishers for all ages. Get Caught Reading is also a year-round campaign for kids, sponsored by Every Child a Reader. Whether you’re celebrating it for a month or the whole year, the point is to remember how fun reading can be!
Children’s Book Week
May 4-10 is Children’s Book Week, so this newsletter is coming out a little too late to fully celebrate, but we have lots of kids’ books, and we think books should be celebrated every day.
Thank you!
As a reminder, nothing in this newsletter was made using generative AI. You can find more about our AI policy on our About Page. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. And if you can’t visit us in store, you can still support us through Bookshop.org or Libro.fm!
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