Yesterday, August 9th, readers everywhere marked National Book Lovers Day, an annual celebration of the simple, lasting joy of a good book. It is a day set aside for the ritual we know so well, whether that means cracking the spine of a brand new release, returning to a worn favorite pulled from the shelf, trading recommendations with a friend, or losing an afternoon in the quiet company of a story. Books have carried human knowledge and imagination for thousands of years, from ancient clay tablets to Gutenberg’s press to the printed volumes that fill our homes today, and this day reminds us that a physical book is still something special. There is a reason the feel of the paper, the weight in your hands, and the smell of the pages continue to draw people back to print. A book you can hold is a book you can keep, share, and pass down, and that permanence is exactly what book lovers cherish.
At Cushing-Malloy, we get to be part of that story every single day. For more than seven decades, our family-owned company has been manufacturing short-run books from the heart of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the short run book capital of America, turning the work of authors, independent publishers, universities, and small presses into finished volumes that readers can treasure. National Book Lovers Day is a meaningful one for us because the passion that fills libraries and bookstores is the very same passion that drives our presses. Every title we print, bind, and ship is destined for someone’s nightstand, backpack, or bookshelf, and we take real pride in helping stories find their way into the hands of the people who love them. So to every reader, writer, and fellow book lover out there, we hope you spent yesterday with a great read, and we are grateful to keep doing our part to bind books for greatness.