New used bookstore offers unwanted books a second chance

If it were up to Jack Finefrock, no book would ever see the inside of a garbage can. A bookseller since the age of eight, Finefrock has a great appreciation for the printed and bound word. That's one reason why the manager of the Kenyon bookstore was happy to help launch a shop in Gambier designed to give unwanted books a second chance.

Located at 100 East Brooklyn Street next door to the Gambier Grill, the store opened its doors on the first day of classes. Already bargain hunters are searching for paperback and hardcover treasures. The shop is called Denham Sutcliffe, Bookseller, in honor of Kenyon icon and longtime English professor Denham Sutcliffe.

"We wanted to honor (Sutcliffe) as a scholar, teacher, and also as a bookseller," says Finefrock. Sutcliffe, who died in 1964, taught at Kenyon for nearly twenty years, and was chair of the English Department from 1957 until his death. He also owned a small bookstore, open only on Sundays, on Gaskin Avenue in Gambier. That store had a familiar sounding-name: Denham Sutcliffe, Bookseller.

"Running any bookstore is an impossible challenge," Finefrock says. "It has to be a labor of love. And it was for Denham Sutcliffe."

As it is for Finefrock. He reviews all the used books he receives, determining their worth and sorting them by subject matter. About 20,000 volumes currently await his inspection. The more valuable tomes will be sold over the Internet and at the Kenyon bookstore. The others will find a home at the new used bookstore. He expects to add about three hundred books to the shop's stacks each day, so that patrons will find new titles each time they visit.

Store donations come from a variety of places. Finefrock has asked that all departments at Kenyon send him their unwanted textbooks; he's issued a plea to retiring faculty looking to purge their bookshelves; and he's convinced the College's custodial staff to fish out any books they find in the trash. He also accepts donations from individuals. But the majority come from libraries at Kenyon, Denison University, the College of Wooster, and Ohio Wesleyan University, all members of CONSORT, an intercollegiate effort to share the four schools' book collections.

Libraries routinely acquire multiple copies of one title, and some books are serials and quickly become outdated. Without a repository for these unwanted books, Finefrock fears many may end up in the trash.

That was part of the motivation behind his idea for a used bookstore. Kenyon senior administrators were entertaining suggestions for what to do with the space on East Brooklyn, which was most recently an art gallery.

"The space became available and Jack put forth the proposal for a used bookstore, which received the unanimous support of the president and senior staff," says Joseph Nelson, vice president for finance. "After that, there is just implementation, which is where we are now. Time will tell whether or not the used bookstore is widely used."

Paperbacks sell for 25 cents each, and hardcovers go for 50 cents. The shop is not staffed, although personnel in the College bookstore track activity in the shop via cameras hung throughout the small building that houses the new store. Patrons pay for the books through a hole in the wall in one of the shop's four and a half rooms. Buyers wishing to use a credit card or student account for their purchases may pay for the book at the Kenyon bookstore.

"We work on the honor system," Finefrock says, "and so far, most people are overpaying."

Denham Sutcliffe, Bookseller is open 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday when classes are in session. For more information, contact Finefrock at finefroc@kenyon.edu.