2026 Events + Booking Drops

Hillary Baker and Jordan Walter applauded when their friend was called up to get her first tattoo. The pair of best friends chatted giddily and finished each other's sentences. Baker, 37, is an Aurora resident. When she heard about Books & Ink, she knew she had to bring Walter, 33, who lives in Cheyenne.

“I dragged his ass down here,” she said. “He’s my bestie and a tattoo junkie.”

The pair decided to get matching “Still I Rise” tattoos, inspired by the Maya Angelou poem.

“It means a lot,” Baker said. She’s had a tough year: Her husband was laid off, and they have four children.

For Walter, the tattoo gives him the daily encouragement he needs as a gay man living in Wyoming.

“It’s hard,” he said. “But I will go above.”

And, of course, the matching tattoos are testament to their affection for each other — and the library.

“I love reading; I love the library,” Walter said.

The event made its mark in part because DPL and Certified Tattoo both have considerable followings, Kemmerling says. But she also suspects that tattoos and libraries go hand in hand:

“Behind every tattoo is a story,” she says. “We’re helping give people a good story.”

COURTESY LESLIE WILBER - WESTWORD MAGAZINE