“Thank God for books and music and things I can think about.” – Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon

“Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.” – Steve Martin.

“Sometimes we need all the glue we can get, just to hold ourselves together.” – Cecelia Ahern, Thanks for the Memories

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What a crazy year 2020 has been. I started it so happy. The store had made it. I was so confident final goals would be met. Then BAM! Everything dropped out. What the hell was going to happen to the store? The books?

I hung in. Every single day. I hung in. Stevie Nicks, John Mellencamp. Rearranging shelves. Customers who have become friends checking in on me. Knocking on the door. Calling me. Texting and emails. Leaving bags of books ordered outside for pick-ups and waving through the windows. Mailing boxes across the country and even to a few Vermont towns. All. All helped me get through a tough time for this used bookstore lady all alone in the shop. Heat off. Lights off. Saving money. Heading out to the car to warm up and taking a drive off the beaten path to connect to something. Nature. The world. Vermont. My familiar.

When the Governor gave retail the okay to reopen I did. I did delay a bit because I had boxes, ladders, stacks of books scattered around. I organized somewhat and unlocked and propped the door open to show the world OCUB was open and ready to do business.

Social distancing. I’m not sure those who don’t shop in used bookstores understand but that’s what us used bookstore people do best. We like people. But around books we want to be alone. Particularly in a shop.

The other thing I’ve been dealing with, all during this, is a torn ligament in my leg and the road to healing has been a long one.

So all-in-all, I’m hanging in. The store is hanging in. Received a Grant from the government and a small loan so I was able to pay rent. I also received a generous grant from the National Bank of Middlebury. That has given me the confidence to continue on and indeed I am.

On Saturday, Novembr 28 I will have owned OCUB for 14 years! It’ll be a quiet celebration but it will involve cookies from Sweet E’s, an up and coming bakeshop in Middlebury. Mmmm, cookies! Books!

“Books are everywhere; and always the same sense of adventure fills us. Second-hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack. Besides, in this random miscellaneous company we may rub against some complete stranger who will, with luck, turn into the best friend we have in the world.” – Virginia Woolf, Street Haunting

I know people coming to this site are expecting to see a database showing the used books offered for sale. My inventory. Unfortunately, you won’t. I like to consider myself as owner of an old fashioned used bookstore. That means you have to come into OCUB to see what’s for sale. What’s on the shelves. Note, I do have some online and they can be found on AbeBooks.com. This site has ended up being a blog of random thoughts of being a used bookstore lady. Me. When I make time for it.

My first duty when I purchased the store – way back in 2006 – was to turn it around. Inventory to profit. So the emphasis was to clean-up the stock, and change things around. After owning the store coming up to 14 years, it’s still the mission. Boxes come in with ‘new’ books weekly if not daily and then my job is to clean them, sort them, price them, and shelf. CSPS. I’d love to take a day to just sit back, wait on customers and get a few pages in but I’m always so compelled to tackle the boxes and books. Get them up on a shelf. Find room. Look for creative ways to display them. A cycle I still follow.

I have stacks of books ready to have their jackets covered. So many, Floors to be swept and moped. Shelves to be dusted. Inventory to be reexamined, moved around. Finally found a spot for books on Germany. They got bumped to make more room for Spain. England! Churchill! Topics that have exploded. It’s the ebb and flow of a used bookstore.

Today will be a day to start preparing to decorate the windows for the upcoming holidays. I cannot wait. Lights, tinsel, ornaments. Just what my soul needs right now. I, for one, am looking forward to 2021. For nothing other than the restart of another year. I’m ready to put 2020 behind me. And I was so excited about 2020. Coming out of a strong year of sales in 2019. January and February equally strong. 2020 was to be a very good year for OCUB. Well, I’m still here so that’s a great sign. And a great way to leave 2020 behind me. So off to find those decorations and start in. And start covering dust jackets.

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” – Charles W. Eliot

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.” – Neil Gaiman