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Volume CXXXIII, Number 6 |
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Old Books holds many hidden treasures
ELISABETH MCCAFFREY
CONTRIBUTOR
Stepping into a used bookshop is often like doing a bit of time travel. Out of the fast-paced and mechanized modern world you know, you are suddenly surrounded by a stillness that pays rush no heed.
Old Books, tucked away on the second floor of 136 Maine Street, offers just that kind of solace. When your third midterm or fourth paper due in one week has you on the edge of sanity, it is a relief to come to a place where the books won't make you hate them.
You are at your leisure to find what you love in the maze of shelves or to ask for help when you need it. There is no cash register, no computer, just Clare and her incredible collection of books.
Clare Howell opened Old Books in 1977, originally filling just one room. Her goal was simply to have a store where people could find what they wanted to read.
Bill Hill, a regular presence in the store, says he was her first customer. Not long after, he became her husband. In 1983 he helped her expand the store to fill the three large rooms it occupies today, with over 20,000 books in every subject.
In her effort to have a "reader's bookshop," there is a large concentration of literature and fiction. There is also philosophy, poetry, drama, science, sociology, history, travel, photography, art, sports, and countless other categories with a great selection of recent and out-of-print editions.
However, Old Books is about to under go some changes. Managing a business with so many books is a lot of work, and Howell has reached the difficult decision that she will have to "miniaturize" the store back to its original room. To that end, she is having her first sale in 26 years.
From October to the end of December, the entire stock is on sale, gradually increasing from 20 perecent off to 50 percent off at the end of the year, in an effort to sell off their stock and make it possible to close for the spring in order to reconfigure. That leaves only these next few months for Bowdoin students to see this little cornerstone of the community as it is.
One would think that a used bookshop and a college would go together perfectly: a community of scholars and educated young people seeking to learn, and a shop dedicated to love of reading and literature. Yet Clare says she only has a handful of students as regular customers.
When asked why she thought that was, she replied with a smile, "I think an appreciation for used bookshops is something most people don't develop until later in life."
It is true that the last thing many students can find time for is more reading, no matter how much they might (or might not) love to.
Yet finding time to rediscover those books you actually want to read might help to keep you sane, not to mention the escape of a sunny window, a couch to read on, and a quiet spot that is not the library. It is the kind of space that lets you reflect on yourself and what you really care about.
Why wait until later in life, when this is something you could appreciate right now?
There are a thousand reasons to love a bookshop, especially one as unique as this one.
I love the creaky wooden stairs that lead to up to quiet, sunny rooms brimming with books. I love the smell of aging paper and fifty-year-old bindings. I love the peacefulness of standing among the floor-to-ceiling shelves, and browsing aimlessly in a world apart from campus. I love finding a book and buying it because I want to, and not because I need it for a class-even if I know I won't have time to read it until the end of the semester.
Old Books, like used bookshops everywhere, uniquely reflects its owner and its space: with overflowing shelves, carefully chosen categories and quirky decorations.
It's harder and harder to find such independent outposts these days, and we are lucky enough to have one right in Brunswick.
Old Books is located at 136 Maine Street, Brunswick, directly above Gulf of Maine Books (an excellent place for new books by the way!) The store hours are Mon, Tues, 12:00-5:00,Wed, Fri, Sat, 10:00-5:00.
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