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Struthers couple aims to promote love of reading
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Richard and Ivy Sheeler stand next to a pile of paperbacks inside Bound 2 Read, their bookstore that opened last month on Elm Street in Struthers. The Sheelers, who own the building, decided to open the bookstore to sell the thousands of books they acquired at an auction and to promote reading for all ages.
Couple opens Struthers store for used books
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
STRUTHERS
A couple of years ago, on a whim, Richard Sheeler bought eight pallets with 300-some boxes stacked on them at an auction. Shortly after his impulse purchase, when he opened up the hundreds of boxes to see what was inside, he was met by an unlikely sight: thousands of books.
“It was a surprise,” Richard said. “I didn’t realize there were quite so many.”
Richard and his wife, Ivy, have held onto the books for the past several years for at least two reasons, he said.
First, they didn’t have any idea what to do with them; and secondly, whatever they decided to do with them, they also wanted to pass on their love of books and reading to others.
Last month, with the latter goal in mind, Richard and Ivy opened Bound 2 Read, a bookstore, in a vacant storefront in their building on Elm Street. Already occupying the building were a ground-floor beauty shop and two upstairs apartments.
“We tried to rent it out, and nobody really wanted to,” Richard said. “So we said, ‘Let’s use the space.’”
So far, growth has been steady for the store that “sells a little bit of everything,” including children’s books, cookbooks, craft books and piles of paperbacks, said Richard, adding that he prefers to read mystery novels.
In addition, Bound 2 Read has already expanded into a consignment store as well, stocking items such as artwork, clothing and DVDs that are updated weekly.
However, the “husband-and-wife team” said they’re being careful not to get too ahead of themselves, even though they have plans eventually to incorporate a coffee shop or lunch counter as well as a book exchange into their business.
Their focus now, Richard and Ivy said, leans more toward books.
The customers are as diverse as the books themselves.
Ivy said she’s been shocked by the number of people who have stopped in to peruse dense physics books, as well as by the woman who purchased two dictionaries to read just for fun.
It’s a “really varied” crowd, she said.
“In a small town, you just wouldn’t imagine that,” said Ivy, who added that she loves to read pretty much everything but science books. “Books will open doors for you and allow you to see a whole different world.”
Despite the prevalence of e-readers, Richard and Ivy said they don’t think books, in the traditional sense, are dying — and can’t imagine them ever completely going away. People like the feel, or the tangibility, of a book too much, Richard said.
The couple loves books, too, which is why Richard and Ivy intend to keep the store open even after their current stock is sold.
“We love books enough,” Ivy said. “We’re hoping people will start reading. We’d like to encourage people to read as much as we’d like to get rid of the books.”