ALTON - Calling all book worms - swapping is the new shopping! Clean off your bookshelves and join Alton Main Street on Saturday, February 17th from Noon until 3:00 p.m. for a “Pop-Up Book Swap”. The event will be held at Gatsby’s Grille, a new restaurant located at 204 State Street in Downtown Alton. This is the perfect venue for the occasion, as it is themed on the classic novel The Great Gatsby!

To participate, simply bring books that you no longer need and leave with new-to-you reading material to enjoy. The event is open to the public, and free to attend if you bring items to swap, or the entrance fee is $5.00 to attend empty-handed. Leftover books will be donated to the Friends of Hayner Library and various Little Free Libraries around town. Guests are encouraged to have lunch at Gatsby’s Grille before or after browsing the books, and help themselves to a complimentary dessert buffet.

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“Besides being a fun way to connect with other readers in the community, an additional benefit of the book swap is that it’s sure to increase foot traffic for the rest of the retail businesses,” said Sara McGibany, Executive Director of Alton Main Street, “Once attendees score some great freebies at the event, they will be likely to turn around spend the hard-earned dollars they saved at other shops while they’re in the district.” Alton Main Street’s ultimate economic development goal is to reduce instances of Alton residents leaving town to make purchases or find experiences, which drains Alton’s sales tax base.

For more details on this event, please email info@altonmainstreet.org. To get involved with the many ways that Alton Main Street volunteers are working to promote the district and improve the quality of life in our community, please contact Executive Director, Sara McGibany, at 463-1016. For full details of the organization’s beautification projects, special events, networking activities, investment opportunities and more, please visit www.DowntownAlton.com or www.facebook.com/AltonMainStreet.

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