Tuesday marked the grand opening of the Johnson City location of Barnes and Noble Bookstore.
To commemorate the event, the store hosted a Friends and Family Night from 6-9 p.m. The celebration included special appearances by Clifford the Big Red Dog, Mark Twain and Mary Shelley. The ETSU Faculty Band also provided special music.
Barnes and Noble is considered to be one of the world’s largest book stores.
The store features a coffee and pastry shop that sells Starbucks’ coffee products as well as various pastries, cookies and cheesecakes.
There will also be several special reading groups and events sponsored by this Barnes and Noble location. These groups will begin meeting in April.
Special-interest reading groups will include Woman to Woman, Arm Chair Thespians, Family Game Night and American Girls. These are just the groups that have been formed at this time.
Barnes and Noble will also sponsor weekly story times and educational activities geared toward children from infant through early elementary ages.
Each Tuesday at 11 a.m. there will be stories and activities for newborns through pre-school for the Tiny Tots storytime event.
On Saturdays at 11 a.m. activities and stories will be provided for children in kindergarten through third grade.
Other special events coming to Barnes and Noble include various book signings and local artist features.
Thelma Kerns, author of But You Never, Ever Pat a Bee, will be signing copies of this advice book for young children April 11 at 7 p.m. There will also be a story time for children accompanying this event.
E. Eugene Ellison, author of Periwinkle Lies, will be signing copies of this mystery book on Saturday, April 22, at 2 p.m.
Barnes and Noble, located at 3030 Franklin Terrace Drive, will also feature local artists each month. This month’s featured artist is 1998 ETSU graduate Mary Carter.

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