GLIBA OWNER'S RETREAT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL 2021
Out of respect for state and local mandates but more so out of concern for the safety and well being of our members we are postponing our GLIBA Owner's Retreat to April 25th-27th, 2021.

We apologize for the inconvenience. If you have reserved a hotel room you have two options. You can cancel your reservation for a full refund or you can keep your reservation for 2021 and guarantee your spot. To cancel or move your reservation please call The Starved Rock Lodge at (815) 667-4211 and mention Great Lakes or Booking ID 18054. Thank you.

GLIBA Owner's Retreat at Starved Rock State Park

Sunday, April 26 - 28, 2020 
Starved Rock Lodge | 2688 E 873rd Road, Oglesby, IL 61348
GLIBA is hosting an Owner's Retreat at Starved Rock!

Please join GLIBA and fellow bookstore owners for two days of conversation, relaxation, hiking, brainstorming and most importantly, maintaining a work-life balance.

Owners arriving on Sunday night can join us for cocktails, conversation and board games with your fellow owners. Let the unwinding begin!

Monday’s activities will include a group lunch, a session dedicated to issues specific to owners and ways to work towards avoiding burnout, and a book club session with an author expert  focused on maintaining work life balance. Based on popular bookseller demand we are THRILLED to welcome author Marlee Grace. Marley will Skype in during the event to further the discussion, answer questions and discuss her title, How to Not Always Be Working : A Toolkit for Creativity and Radical Self-Care as well as her upcoming fall title, Getting to Center from HarperCollins. Each attendee will receive a copy of How to Not Always be Working.

Don’t worry! We’ve left lots of time in the afternoon to hike in the beautiful Starved Rock State Park, relax with a massage, or just sit by the historic lodge’s fireplace with a good book.

We’ll come together Monday evening for a dinner that’s sure to include great food, conversation and connecting with fellow owners.

Tuesday, we will send you off after breakfast (and maybe a hike) relaxed, re-energized and wiser.

The intent is to keep this event intimate and impactful with the goal of both introspection and community building among our members. In order to attain these goals, we have chosen to limit the Owner’s Retreat to 20 bookstore owners, though Plus Ones are welcome to join.

Registration is free and meals are provided. The hotel is $115/night, not including tax. For hotel reservations or for massage reservations (please make your own), call The Starved Rock Lodge at (815) 667-4211 and mention Great Lakes or Booking ID 18054 to receive the group rate.

Please register here and include any topics you would like to discuss.

Featured Author

How to Not Always be Working (HarperCollins) by Marlee Grace​

This book is a quiet revolution, a guide filled with practical advice to help you curb your obsessions and build boundaries between your work, your job, and your life. From business anecdotes about fulfilling orders to more personal stories about Marlee Grace’s recovery from divorce and addiction, this book is full of wisdom and resilience, with plenty of discussion about ritual and routine as ways to create effective and positive creative life change.

In her workshops on healing and creative process, Grace helps people acknowledge their blocks and address them by setting distinct parameters that change their behavior. Now, she brings her methods and ideas to the wider world, offering all of us concrete ways to break free from our devices and focus on what’s really important—our own aliveness.

Part workbook, part advice manual, part love letter, How to Not Always Be Working ventures into the space where phone meets life, helping readers to define their work—what they do out of sense of purpose; their job—what they do to make money; and their breaks—what they do to recharge, and to feel connected to themselves and the people who matter to them. Grace addresses complex issues such as what to do if your work and your job are connected, provides insights to help you figure out how much is too much, and offers suggestions for making the best use of your time.

Essential for everyone who feels overwhelmed and anxious about our hyper-connected world—whether you’re a corporate lawyer, a student, a sales person, or a yoga instructor—How to Not Always Be Working includes practical suggestions and thoughtful musings that prompt you to honestly examine your behavior—how you burn yourself out and why you’re doing it. A creative manifesto for living better, it shows you how to carve sacred space in your life.