Loving Bookstores from Afar may seem impossible, given the nature of brick-and-mortar stores. Add in the current #stayhome world we are in, we fear for our sanity and for the bookstores around the world. Libro.fm can help with both these concerns.

This week we are joined by Stephanie Ballien, the director of marketing for a digital company called Libro FM. She worked with many other major brands before finding her passion and home at Libro FM. She hails from Seattle and enjoys life there with her two children.

In this episode we talk about:

1. What Libro FM is. It is a company that provides a way for you to buy audiobooks through local and independent bookstores that they have partnered with- a great way to support bookstores while still getting the digital content we love!

2. How the partnership with bookstores makes Libro FM different from other audiobook platforms and what features they are able to bring to their customers thanks to that partnership.

3.  A speed-round of Frequently Asked Questions that Stephanie handled like a champ! So much good information about them, how they work, how much it costs, and so much more in such a short amount of time (you get to own the audio file! They have monthly sales! You can get a refund if you did not like the book! You can pick a bookstore to support!).

4. When we recorded and originally aired this episode, the world was in the middle of dealing with the outbreak of COVID-19. We chatted about what Libro FM was doing to support the local bookstores that they partner with, many of which had to close down while their cities tried to contain the virus.

5. And, as a final wrap-up, we got Stephanie about the latest book that she has read and fell in love with.

In Libro.fm: Loving Bookstores From Afar we mention

We are so grateful to Stephanie for taking the time to talk with us! More information about her, and LibroFM can be found in the following places:

Instagram:

@librofm

@Childrenslitlove

Websites:

https://libro.fm

Email:

hello@libro.fm

Books we mentioned:

Stamped by Jason Reynolds

Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer  (series)

Disney's Frozen Anna and Elsa sister series by Erica David

Nate the Great (series) by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

A Boy Called Bat (series) by Alana K Arnold

Related Episodes

If you're looking for another great way to listen to audiobooks, be sure to listen to Episode 9: Getting to Know Overdrive and Libby with Adam Sockel

We also talk about listening to audiobooks in one of our earliest interviews with Family Looking Up in Episode 6: Finding Books for your Family