Crelle-kiez

The neighbourhood committee of my street, Crellestraße, have organised a day of music today with the cooperation of various local businesses. For weeks posters have been up, cards with the programme have been out in local restaurants and shops: each card has the map you see below, with, on the reverse side, a list of events that will take place at each numbered venue (Crellekiez link here).


This is what I'd like to see as an addition to the current system for book distribution. People often tag me on Facebook or ask for my list of top 10 books for some yearly round-up; no one ever asks me to come up with a list of 10 or 20 books and undertake to get 5 copies of each stocked in at least one non-bookselling retailer.

If that were the model, we can imagine a map like the one above, with each numbered retailer associated with a) a book and b) the person who recommended it. (Or, of course, 1+n books, 1+n persons.) People who walked in off the street would see a book they might otherwise not come across - people looking for a book, or for recommendations by X, might come into a shop/restaurant they might otherwise not have visited.

I have not, as I might, improved the shining hour by tweaking the map in Illustrator with icons of books that might be associated with each shop or restaurant, but I think it's obvious how easily this could be done.