Reading away the blues
The bright yellow “Store Closing” sign currently hanging over the Borders bookstore in Logan serves as a reminder that many Cache Valley residents will soon have to look elsewhere for their reading materials. However, there are many other places in Logan who aim to encourage those with a love of reading.
The Book Table
The Book Table is an independent bookstore located at 29 S. Main Street in Logan.
In 1974, Eugene Needham bought the store from its original owner, and it has been owned by his family ever since. Today it’s managed by his grandson, Jeff Needham and his wife, Candice.
The Book Table, offers many products besides books. They have CDs, craft supplies and a vast array of musical instruments and sheet music.
Candice Needham says she has been in touch with the store manager at Borders on a regular basis, learning things that will help The Book Table cater to Borders customers.
“One of their top selling sections was children’s books, and we have the top selection of children’s books in Utah,” Needham said. “We’ve been told by manufacturers that we’re in the top 10 for the western United States as far as depth of children’s books.”
Needham said many USU students come to The Book Table to purchase the scrapbooking materials they need for portfolios or other school projects. She said The Book Table is also the only education supply store in the valley.
“One thing that sets us apart is diversity, we have more than just books,” she said. “We have anything for entertainment or hobbies. We try to do things that take people out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary.”
Public Libraries
In addition to bookstores, there are several public libraries in Cache Valley; there are branches in Logan, North Logan, Hyrum, Smithfield, Richmond, Lewiston and Newton.
The process of obtaining a free library card is the same for each branch. You must be a resident of the city where the library is located and provide two forms of identification that include your address, such as a driver’s license and a utility bill.
Non-residents have the opportunity to purchase a card from any library. The fees range from $5 at the Newton Library to $163 at the Logan Library. The Richmond and Lewiston libraries offer cards to non-residents for free. The Cache County Library, located in Providence, offers all residents of Cache County access to its materials free of charge.
The Logan Library offers eBooks and eAudiobooks on their website, library.loganutah.org. eBooks are electronic books that can be read online from any computer with an Internet connection, while eAudiobooks are electronic audio books that can be downloaded and played on a computer or transferred to a portable listening device such as an MP3 player. The eBooks are not compatible with Kindle, Nook, iPad or other tablet devices.
Ronald Jenkins, director of the Logan Library, said, “Kindles are nice, but you’re limited to what they provide.”
Jenkins said there are six major publishers with electronic books, and three of them won’t sell the library their products. HarperCollins will only allow their electronic materials to be checked out 26 times.
“A hard copy at our library is checked out an average of 150 times,” Jenkins said. He hopes that in the future, publishers will allow libraries the freedom to give their patrons unlimited access to electronic materials.
In comparison to the Merrill-Cazier Library on campus, Jenkins said that city libraries tend to have more current popular fiction.
“If you’re doing doctoral research for a Ph.D., you probably want to go to Merrill-Cazier,” he said.
Used Books
Ten years ago, Steve Jenson bought a book at a library sale. He then sold it online for 10 times the price he originally paid for it. It was the beginning of Jenson Books, an online bookstore, with traveling warehouse sales on the side. Jenson Books is currently located in a warehouse in south Logan, near Providence, at 1766 Blacksmith Court Suite B.
Jenson said he is looking for a permanent location, but will continue online sales through amazon.com until he finds one. He said he believes that his business is different from other bookstores because of their low prices and high volume.
“This year alone we got over 7 million books in,” Jenson said.
Jenson purchases books from libraries, state sales and thrift stores.
“There’s a huge variety of books,” he siad. “Everything from children’s and mass-market paperbacks to coffee table books. That’s another thing that’s different and fun about us, you have to dig for books. We don’t know what we’re going to have in.”
At their last warehouse sale, books were sold for $1 during the first week. During the second week, customers were charged $10 for any amount of books they could fit into a bag. The third week the price was reduced to $7 a bag. He plans on having the same prices for their next warehouse sale, which will be held at the end of April.
The Logan Book Exchange, tucked behind an unobtrusive doorway next to Somebody’s Attic in downtown Logan, is a bookstore that accepts used books for trade credit in addition to selling books for as little as a couple quarters. The store opens into a small nook of paperbacks and a cashiers table, then extends back into room upon room of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves holding every category from children’s books to Westerns. According to their Facebook page, the shop also takes requests and can arrange for special orders. The Logan Book Exchange is located at 29 W. 100 North.
– jamee.dyches@aggiemail.usu.edu