Literary Arts

Great Reading, Recycled

Good for the budget, good for the environment!

By M.W. MOSQUEDA JR
Published: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 | 12:01 PM

A book requires trees to make. But there’s an unusual local bookstore that saves trees and helps the ecology. How? By offering used, recycled books that are still in good condition.

That’s Book Rack in Arcadia. For over 25 years, the bookstore has been carrying thousands of used paperbacks and hardbacks that are still in great form and compensates readers who bring used books back to the store.

“It helps with the budget and it helps with the ecology. So anyway we can save a tree and breathe some fresh air is a good thing,” said Karen Kropp, the owner of Book Rack.

At Book Rack, customers can bring back their used books after they’ve read them and get back half of the purchase price or opt for store credits that can be used to purchase another used books, she said.

Book Rack carries a full range of fiction, non-fiction, western, classic, children, sci-fi, mystery, gothics, thriller, men’s adventure, best sellers, and audio books that satisfy the reading needs of the customers.

“A lot of people used to read hard mystery. Now they read the fluffy mysteries. Then of course we have the paranormal, and you know Stephanie Myers and all the vampires. Anything to get kids to read! We love to have kids to read,” said Kropp, who worked for Book Rack for 10 years until the previous owner decided to sell it to her three and a half years ago.

Book Rack was then located off the corner of Baldwin and Duarte for seventeen years with Pat Karlson as the owner. When Karlson passed away, her husband ran it for a while and then decided to give Kropp the opportunity to buy the book store.

“It’s a dream come true. Working at the Book Rack is the best job I ever had – and I got to keep it,” says Kropp. “It’s been nice. It’s always been a dream. I love this store”.

Book Rack caters to a wide range of reading customers. The younger ones now read more mysteries. Non-fiction, including topics on financial control and ecology, is also a hit for the adult readers, Kropp stressed.

High school students, especially from Arcadia, Monrovia, Temple City, and Alverno, also come to the book store to read and most of them get their school reading lists in Book Rack.

“We’ve been really lucky with schools,” she said, adding that the staff at Book Rack has really been keeping an eye out to assist customers especially in their search for titles.

Excellent customer service is practiced at Book Rack and that explains why customers keep coming back to the book store. The staff knows almost all of the customers at Book Rack, said Kropp.

“We make phone calls and try to find books for people. We try really hard to meet the needs of our customers,” she said.

For people who do not know Book Rack yet, Kropp has this to say:

“Reading is the best thing you can do for your mind, for your intellect, for your life. It gets you informed. So if you get excited about seeing and reading books, come in here at the Book Rack. It’s a good way to travel, it’s a good way to learn things, a good way to escape”.

The Book Rack: 204 South First Avenue, Arcadia, (626) 446-2525 http://www.bookrackarcadia.com/ Hours: Monday through Friday, 8am - 7pm, Saturday, 8am - 6pm, and Sunday, 11am - 4pm

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