( a place where books hug the heart )

a place where books hug the heart

by jennifer hetrick

it’s only been a few months since boyertown welcomed itself the reprieve of something long overdue—a bookstore, and one with copy after copy at a price that doesn’t pinch wallets in half too hard.

the book nook at 130 east philadelphia avenue, in the old rhoads opera house building, opened its doors to the public april 30.

owner holly wood, who knows her name’s pun-worthy nature will never lose its luster, spent 13 years as a stay-at-home mom and knew that after the stint, she wanted to bring her love of reading into the boyertown community, given that no one else had dived into those proverbial pages of life on the main strip of route 73.

before the business plans had unfolded, holly’s husband james researched to find out if any bookstores, exclusively new or mingled with used copies, had been in the town in the past. he discovered that a stationery store which also sold books carved its history into the town in the 1960s but that nothing else had popped into the picture since then.

with the next closest used bookstore as gently used books in douglassville, wood has etched an important resource into the streetscape in boyertown, already reeling in regular customers who visit her a few times a week to peruse her constantly changing selection on the shelves.

the storefront spans a little less than 1,000-square-feet and has possible room for expansion if needed, wood says. with trade-ins thickening her supply more and more each week, she reveals that she’s noticed mystery thrillers taking quite a hold on local readers with their purchases. classic literature and of course romance are also often-grabbed sellers, and her children’s section has grown considerably since those mid-spring days of operation.

“books are very important,” wood says. “reading is good for your mind, keeping it active, and it’s needed in daily life.”

she has read so many books over her lifetime that pegging one as her favorite is an impossible feat, but she has always encouraged reading fruitfully with her children who are often seen trotting around the store, throwing their mom a hand in helping to organize books on the shelves. out of all the tasks though, spencer, 13, emily, 9, and natalie, 8, gravitate most fanatically to stamping the prices on the books.

the rhyme-happy and easily accessible location of the book nook is all the more valuable in the local landscape for the fact that more affordably priced books are certainly a financial relief in a time when economic conditions are dragging so much down across the municipal, county, state, and national levels. books at sensible prices and within a reasonable reach between running errands in town lead to this storefront standing as quite its own gem in boyertown.

while wood serves to try to keep an eye out for books customers request, the summer reading requirements students in area senior and junior highs are mandated to eye-peruse before each new academic year have become a big hit for the shop, especially via facebook wall inquiries. the idea came to wood because of her son’s junior high summer reading requirement list sitting in front of the family. since the book nook has been receiving such attention for how wood strives to find exactly what people are looking for within the world of books, this is just one more angle of how she keeps shoppers peeling their way through her storefront and is becoming increasingly appreciated by locals, even away from online book-selling sites.

with paperbacks, trade-ins are 25 percent of the lowest cover price toward store credit. hardcover books of fiction and nonfiction, less than three-years-old, are worth up to 50 percent of their selling price and are generally sold at 75 percent of the cover price, with all books taken requested to be in good condition, and luckily, that usually works out, wood says.

up to 50 percent store credit can be applied to purchases and doesn’t expire, wood explains.

some people even stop in to donate their books, not expecting store credit while kindly building the supply on the shelves which is now beyond 23,000 books.

dvds in the front movie (sometimes with the books they stemmed from also on the shelf) section of the store are a popular seller too, with trade-in credit as $1 each.

wood donated several gift certificates as prizes to the boyertown community library with its children’s and adult summer reading program, which has book slips available to be filled out for attempted wins. slips are due by august 16 but can be submitted to the library sooner.

being able to supply people with the exact books they’re looking for is what wood says she appreciates most about her everyday efforts handled one book at a time, making boyertown a bit more wholesome one page at a time.

the book nook is open tuesday through saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. search for “the book nook in boyertown” on facebook to find out more.