Prairie Lights Books

Iowa City, Johnson County

Access

Included with Business Intelligence

Capabilities

Offering
New Books[2]
Offering
Consignment Books[2]
Offering
Textbooks[2]
Offering
Cafe[2]
Offering
Author Events[2]
Offering
Literary Readings[2]
Offering
Merchandise[2]
Service
New & Consignment Books[2]
Service
Textbook Store[2]
Service
Cafe[2]
Service
Author Events & Literary Readings[2]
Service
Merchandise & Gifts[2]

Get started

Primary action

Community

Community
WSUI & WOI radio literary broadcasts[1]
Community
Iowa City literary community partner[1]

About

Prairie Lights Books sprang to life in May 1978 as a small, intimate bookstore offering titles by newer voices like Raymond Carver and Alice Munro and by established authors like Eudora Welty and George Orwell. By 1982, Prairie Lights transplanted itself from South Linn St. to South Dubuque and has gradually spread to three and a half floors. The space includes a cafe in a historic location where the local literary society met throughout the 1930s, hosting writers Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, Sherwood Anderson, Langston Hughes, E.E. Cummings and others. Today the store holds approximately 80,000 to 100,000 books. Prairie Lights hosts a renowned literary reading series featuring local, national, and international authors, broadcast on WSUI and WOI radio stations. It remains a book lovers' paradise in the heart of downtown Iowa City.[2]

Machine-readable record

Machine-readable record

Sources

  1. Every Iowan record as of 2026-07-10
  2. Every Iowan record as of 2026-07-10