A bittersweet day yesterday as I sold the cutest bunny bookends. They were so adorable with the sweetest smile! But I know they are going to a great home so all is good.
Yes, I do offer other items for sale other than used books. Used items. But, of course. Bookends, globes, lamps. Postcards. And other vintage, library-related stuff. Here are a few items pictured. Plus a couple of very cool Etsy artists that I sell.
Life as a used bookstore owner. What is it like? Well, isn’t it just about everyone’s dream to own a used bookstore? It’s everything you think it would be and then some. Hard work as well as enjoyable. Heavy boxes to cart around. Cleaning books before they hit the shelves. Sorting into categories. Pricing. Shelving or storing until there is an opening on the shelf. Sometimes moving shelves around to accommodate the books. Tending to customers. Seeing what is needed.
I really enjoy the older books – their covers, pages. I shop in the non-fiction sections whenever I go into a used bookstore. Just to see what would jump out at me. It was always a surprise but always what I needed. Well, you know, didn’t really need but had to have.
Purchasing this store I wanted to create a space that I would want to shop in. So this store is really a reflection of me. I know some stores sell merchandise that they know would sell but not so much represented who they were as a person. I don’t think I would enjoy that. Probably make money but not happy money.
So I’m plugging along enjoying the space I am in. Enjoying all the books around me. In boxes, on shelves, in piles awaiting my attention.
And thinking of ways to re-purposing pieces – letting my imagination go. Fun. And creative.
In celebration of the glorious day we are finally having! Everyone should be outside and enjoying it. With a book, raking lawns or whatever moves you.
Received numerous biographies, literary criticisms, and fiction recently. Some are even making it up on the shelves, too. 🙂
That’s what is going on at Otter Creek Used Books. Well, as best I can. So many boxes are coming in – furniture making, classics, history, cookbooks – that I’ve been spending my time working through them and of course, tending to customers. Oh, and Vermont books, too. Some written by Middlebury College professors. Reginald Cook for one. He was my neighbor growing up on Pulp Mill Bridge Road. I was excited to discover it. Check back!
Otter Creek Used Books 