The Indie Bob Spot: Indigo Bridge Books & Cafe

Indigo Bridge Books & Cafe - Lincoln, NE

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When it comes to embracing a community, some indies may, "talk the talk," but not really "walk the walk," (although, most do a wonderful job of walking the walk). Indigo Bridge Books & Cafe embraces its community all the way from its store name to its actions, including aid to non-profits and social causes.

The folks at Indigo Bridge wanted the name of the store to be something that symbolized one of their biggest hopes for the store; building community. Community that reaches past the divisions of neighborhoods, social classes, political ambitions, religious beliefs, ethnicities, national borders, even languages. Thus, a bridge. And, well, indigo is a really cool color. Indigo Bridge tries to live by this standard in all that it does. It is active with store events which feature people of diverse backgrounds. It offers a weekly bi-lingual story time of English/Spanish. They are considering expanding this program to include additional languages. This store is very strong for children's books and programs. In addition to the bi-lingual story time, there is also a twice weekly English language story time. There is a cafe located inside the bookstore and its offerings are all from local sources.

The store is arranged on a split-level and offers all new books. The staffers all have their genres of interest and you can find their recommendations around the store. I had a great talk with Vernée H., the events coordinator, and she told me that all of the books in the store are hand selected by the staff. This is so helpful to customers when they're browsing books and want to talk to one of the booksellers. Indigo Bridge is also involved with many schools, a great way for indies to integrate in the community. This indie is located in a historic building in the Haymarket District of Lincoln. When you're done at Indigo Bridge you'll want to explore the rest of the Creamery Building its located in and the other businesses as well as the many unique shops and restaurants nearby. While in the store though, you're going to enjoy a fine selection of new books and sidelines.

My visit was made all the better by the wonderful people I met and my time spent talking to them. Vernée, Alison, and Cass were terrific to patiently take time to talk to me and share with me much about the store. The future of independent bookstores may include a non-profit component and some already do. Thanks to Indigo Bridge, we're being given a vision on how to do it. Kudos to Indigo Bridge for their dedication to education and children's literary. And kudos to the people at Indigo Bridge for providing a great bookstore experience. Now we know there's more to Lincoln than Big Red. Go to an indie and buy a book. Bonsoir.

JUST FINISHED: In The Heart Of The Sea, Nathaniel Philbrick. True story of the Essex whaling ship, its sinking, and the survival at sea of the crew in 1820. Outstanding and highly recommended. I loved this book. Read it before the movie comes out.

CURRENTLY READING: Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson. I can already tell you before I finish this book that it is outstanding.

Exterior window design.

Indigo Bridge Books & Cafe is located in the Creamery Building. This is just inside the entrance into the building. Turn right and you're in the bookstore!