Science is wicked cool and we are eagerly collaborating on the First Annual Arizona SciTech Festival. The Arizona SciTech Festival runs from February to March and offers a variety hands-on activities and workshops, conversations and debates, exhibitions, concerts, guided walks and tours in the coolest locations in Arizona. Our goal is to showcase Arizona as a national leader in science, technology and innovation.

February is Love of Reading Month and Bookmans Flagstaff has fun in store for you. For grown-ups only we have a Northern Arizona Book Festival event titled Ambivalent Cupid: Readings and Songs About Love. This event will feature poetry, creative nonfiction, ballads of love, wine and chocolate. The event takes place 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10 downtown on Route 66 at Sundara.

Manzo Elementary School and Cortez High School want your vote! Two of ten semifinalists in the 2012 Bookmans School Challenge, Manzo and Cortez are in the race to win the grand prize of $15,000 or the second and third prizes of $3,000.

Mountain Sky Jr. High School and Sewell Elementary School want your vote! Two of ten semifinalists in the 2012 Bookmans School Challenge, Mountain Sky and Sewell are in the race to win the grand prize of $15,000 or the second and third prizes of $3,000.

The tenth semi-finalist in the Bookmans School Challenge was Apache Junction High School. We chose Apache Junction in large part because of their Gay Straight Alliance club. In an age where the negative effects of bullying are becoming increasingly obvious, we found it refreshing that the school is actively working to promote acceptance and diversity. Unfortunately, after making a video highlighting the GSA, the school board decided not to allow Apache Junction to participate citing safety concerns for minors participating in the video. Though the video was re-shot without student participation, the school board continued to express the same concerns and would not support participation in the School Challenge, rendering AJHS ineligible for the $15,000 grand prize or any of the secondary prizes. We requested an official statement from the school board, but none has been provided at this time. If you'd like more information regarding Apache Junction's withdrawal from the competition, please contact Sheila Kressler-Crowley, Marketing Director for Bookmans Entertainment Exchange, at sheilak@bookmans.com.

Love is in the air and we hope it is a love for the February Phoenix Edition of Bookmans Treasure Hunt: The Search for Local Business Booty about to begin! In January we hid the treasure at the ultra amazing comic book store Drawn to Comics in Downtown Glendale, but where oh where could it be this time?

The Arizona Derby Dames (AZDD) are halfway through the season and two lucky Bookmans.com readers will win passes to witness the action! The competition is so close that fans have been glued to their seats in anticipation of which teams will be top seated in the playoffs. The first game in bout three highlights the Runaway Brides and the Coffin Draggers in a rematch of last season's championship game. In the second bout of the double header, both teams have to prove their worth as the Schoolyard Scrappers take on the Bombshells. Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum is located at 1826 W. McDowell Rd. in Phoenix. Doors open at 5 p.m. with bouts starting at 7 p.m.

UPDATE *** This position has been filled. ***

We're looking for an Administrative Assistant for our Mesa store. You might be just who we're looking for.

Position Summary:
The Administrative Assistant is responsible for the administration of all Human Resources related paperwork and staff communication as well as the day-to-day accounting of cash/trade sales and purchases for the store.

Are you in the Nancy Drew Clues Crew? If not it's time to start sleuthing! This month's Flagstaff edition of the Twitter Treasure Hunt starts today. You'll need to follow @bookmansflag from your Twitter account to get three magical clues that will lead you to free local business loot. If you're not already in the know, Bookmans partners with other local businesses each month to feature our friends and give away great stuff. Local partners have included Burritos Fiesta, Fizz Bath Shop, Sugar Mama's and the Leaf Loft.

Ticket Tuesday followers are you ready to win tickets to see the latest masterpiece by EIT? EIT!, or "Everything is Terrible" as they have been lovingly dubbed by followers, are the video collective responsible for some of the most intriguing and horrifying viral videos in the Universe. EIT! salvages the best VHS moments from thrift stores across the nation and posts their daily finds on the Internet for the world to see. Each year the group edits thousands of resurrected treasures into one mind-melting feature-length movie. DoggieWoggiez! PoochieWoochiez! will play one night only at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Feb. 23 at The Film Bar in Phoenix.

We consider the ability to choose good books a life skill. Our orange shelves are tidy but at home our nightstands play host to precariously piled books that we're gonna read ... someday. We're fairly certain that all of these books are good because someone who understands the importance of reading taught us how to choose books that keep our interest, capture our imagination and teach us new things.

Febrary we promote Love of Reading month and well, we already love to read. While we have no problem slecting books, emerging readers often do. Patty Anders, professor in the University of Arizona College of Education and Literacy for Life Coalition's Capacity Team Chair, shared tips for helping young people select books with us and a group of others at Holladay Elementary Magnet School in Tucson as part of a Voices for Education Parent Leadership Institute.

"Children feel like they don't know much or that what they do know is of little consequence," she says. "The truth is that what they already know goes a long way in future understandings."

Bookmans Exchange has signed a lease to open a sports, outdoor and recreation exchange store using the same quality buy, sell and trade business model that has proved successful for over 35 years. Bookmans Recreation Exchange will do for used recreation equipment what we did for used books and music and the same trade credit will work on any merchandise in any of their stores.

Chief Operating Officer Sean Feeney says, "We already issue trade credit for exercise and other recreation equipment people bring to our bookstores. Our customers tell us they look forward to being able to trade the baseball bat their child outgrew for a stack of Newberry books or a video game and of course vise versa. Our recreation exchange will allow people to take their books, CDs, video games and DVDs into our bookstores for trade and use that credit to buy a StairMaster or golf clubs."

Looking for an uplifting good time? It's easy! Lucky Bookmans Ticket Tuesday fans will win tickets to take a trip back in time to the wildly popular and entertaining Arizona Renaissance Festival. The annual faire begins at 10 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday from Feb. 11 through April 1.