WILKES-BARRE -- One of Luzerne County's last stores that sold used books is closing. The owner of the Book and Spy Shop is calling it quits and selling the building.
But the shop's demise will become some others' gain.
Jody Thompson has been selling used books from her store for more than a decade. Now, she's writing the book store's final chapter. She's selling the building and closing shop because it's become too expensive to keep open.
“It would be really hard for a small used bookstore or a new bookstore to make enough money to be in business these days. People are using Kindles. People are using Amazon and buying books online,” she said.
Thompson is planning to shut down the shop April 15. That's when she's hoping to sell as many books as she can.
“It's going to be heartbreaking to throw nice old books away,” she said.
But the loss of her bookstore is a gain to so many, because she's giving away a lot of her books to places like senior centers.
The books are especially important to Michael Martin, who likes to visit senior centers. He reads history books to a friend suffering from Alzheimer's -- the same ones Thompson donated.
“It brings back his memory from a total stroke. It brings back his mother, his father, his jobs, the things he did, his ex-wife. It helps him to recall what he's lost,” he said.
Thompson is happy to see her books helping others. She only wishes there was something that could bring her used bookstore back from being history itself.
