{"id":15926,"date":"2015-01-03T13:18:44","date_gmt":"2015-01-03T21:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=15926"},"modified":"2015-01-16T11:00:47","modified_gmt":"2015-01-16T19:00:47","slug":"new-san-anselmo-shop-delights-used-book-fanatics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/new-san-anselmo-shop-delights-used-book-fanatics\/","title":{"rendered":"New San Anselmo shop delights used book fanatics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kristy Thompson cradles her dog, Jasmine Sage, in front of Town Books\u2019 pets section. Photo: Nancy Fox.<\/p>\n

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Nine-year-old Daedan Cutter reads in children\u2019s corner of Town Books. Photo: Nancy Fox.<\/p>\n
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Cinnie Barrows helped create Town Books, new Friends of the San Anselmo Library shop. Photo: Nancy Fox.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Almost all the buyers are incurable addicts.<\/p>\n

So are the sellers, who occasionally purchase items when not volunteering.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t be misled: There are no drugs. No booze. No butts.<\/p>\n

Used books are their preferred vice.<\/p>\n

Some are addicted to romance novels, bodice-rippers and the like. Some are drawn to true murder stories. Some favor volumes about sports or politics or scientific expeditions to the outskirts of civilization.<\/p>\n

And some \u2014 like my wife \u2014 lean toward lighter fare, such as the humor of David Sedaris.<\/p>\n

The buyer-fanatics would make the register in San Anselmo\u2019s 20- by 40-foot Town Books ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching if the spanking new store had a machine instead of a cash box.<\/p>\n

Me? I\u2019ve bought nothing yet.<\/p>\n

A voracious book reader into midlife, I\u2019ve since turned to alternate worlds provided by newspapers, magazines, websites and, if you believe my spouse (who insists I\u2019ll read anything)<\/em>, the backs of cereal boxes.<\/p>\n

Cinnie Barrows \u2014 Friends of the Library stalwart who\u2019s been as responsible as anyone for the shop\u2019s birth \u2014 is much more typical.<\/p>\n

She got hooked on books when her parents read to her \u201cat a very early age. Then, still pre-school, I started using the library in my small West Virginia hometown. It was above the jail.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s still addicted.<\/p>\n

But others involved with the library, she insists, are even more so: \u201cSome of the Friends read all<\/em> the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cinnie\u2019s worked her way down to wearing only two hats \u2014 \u201cvolunteer coordinator, which means I\u2019m in charge of recruiting, and being the Tuesday manager.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she\u2019s quick to cite two other Friends instrumental in the store\u2019s gestation, Sue Neil and Shelagh Smith.<\/p>\n

Sue, with her daughter Julie, helmed the shop\u2019s design, including racks in the center of the room that clear away for special events.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s particularly proud of the shelves.<\/p>\n

They were hand-picked, one by one, she says: \u201cThey\u2019re all old bleacher benches from St. Louis that were re-purposed \u2014 some red, some black, some that had chewing gum on the bottom that had to get scraped off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shelagh, who oversees Friends\u2019 finances, co-wrote the volunteers\u2019 handbook with Joan Boodrookas, the organization\u2019s president.<\/p>\n

Unpaid regular Sharon Bluhm commends it.<\/p>\n

And says, \u201cFiction sells well \u2014 because it\u2019s what we have most. So do children\u2019s books and cookbooks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early revenues hit between $500 and $600 a week, but they were based on being open only Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 to 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you consider most books sell for under $5,\u201d says Sue, \u201ceven at $500, that\u2019s a lot of books.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sales are expected to rise now because Fridays have been added.<\/p>\n

Proceeds will help the library with what Debbie Stutsman, tow n manager, calls \u201ca myriad of\u2026things not covered by the general fund or parcel tax budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least two volunteers staff the store at 411 San Anselmo Ave. each morning, two more each afternoon. Each day has a designated manager.<\/p>\n

Though Town Books opened mid-September, the official launch wasn\u2019t until last month, when 150 book lovers jammed what once housed Riccardo\u2019s Italian restaurant and its endless empty bottles hanging from the ceiling.<\/p>\n

Down San Anselmo Avenue, Michael Whyte, owner of Whyte\u2019s Booksmith, rejects my question about competition. \u201cI feel it\u2019s more collegial,\u201d he says. \u201cThe more bookstores in San Anselmo, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whyte\u2019s been supporting library projects for 30-plus years \u2014 \u201cgenerously,\u201d comments Cinnie.<\/p>\n

Most of Town Books\u2019 stock comes from individuals cleaning out their homes \u2014 folks like Lisa Mackey. \u201cMy mom is ill, in a nursing home,\u201d she tells me, \u201cand I\u2019m bringing her books here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u201d is the single room, but down the hallway is a 16×22 office where Eli Welber scans non-fiction barcodes to see if they can be marketed on Amazon.<\/p>\n

His current online inventory is about 500 tomes. He expects the number to go up exponentially.<\/p>\n

The afternoon I visit, a San Anselmo newbie who prefers anonymity scours the place for books dealing with the history of American poetry, while Oliver Kaufmann of Ross surfs the shelves (he\u2019d earlier bought a novel and two nonfiction volumes).<\/p>\n

They voice delight.<\/p>\n

Some \u2014 like Kat Hench, who lived in San Anselmo but now resides in Novato \u2014 come to Town Books seeking something specific but don\u2019t find it.<\/p>\n

Few leave empty-handed.<\/p>\n

But almost all, addicts or not, somehow leave with a smile on their faces.<\/p>\n

Check out Woody Weingarten\u2019s new blog at www.vitalitypress.com\/<\/a> or contact him at voodee@sbcglobal.net<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Almost all the buyers are incurable addicts. So are the sellers, who occasionally purchase items when not volunteering. But don\u2019t be misled: There are no drugs. No booze. No butts….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"