Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, for North Star Monthly. The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost.
Sam Stout | Community News Service
LYNDONVILLE — For 50 years, Green Mountain Books has been a staple of the Lyndonville community. Founded in 1976, the building where Green Mountain Books resides was once a commercial auto shop. Behind the shelves, the glass panes of an old garage door can be seen. The now-empty floor above the shop was once a display room.
The original owner, Ralph Secord, was a librarian from Connecticut who owned a camp in Vermont, said Green Mountain Bookstore owner Kim Crady-Smith. When he retired, Secord and his family moved to Sutton and opened Green Mountain Books.
In 1983, his daughter, Ellen Doyle, started working with him. When he passed away in 1993, she inherited the shop. Though now retired, Doyle still takes pride in the bookstore’s role in the community.
“We were known for our fine antiquarian books, new books, but also used books,” she said. “A lot of people in the community couldn’t afford to buy books.”
In the seventies, the Northeast Kingdom was less prosperous than it is now, she added. As a primarily second-hand bookseller, she sees it as a major boon to the community.
Crady-Smith worked for Doyle before buying the store from her in 2007. Prior to that, she taught English at an alternative school. She says that her love of literature and English contributed to her success in running the store.
Now, plants adorn the big front windows of the shop, and fraying carpets cover what once was bare concrete. A tidy mishmash of shelves are filled with primarily second-hand and vintage books — though new bestsellers are also sold. From classics like Faulkner to modern romances and horror, the store has it all.
Green Mountain Books also sells a variety of books by Vermont authors, including Nancy Marie Brown and Patricia Ward. When Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote his book, “Outsider in the White House,” he stopped by the shop to give a reading.
Throughout the day, people flow in and out of the shop. No one’s rushing anyone, Crady-Smith said.
“It’s best to see what calls to you,” Crady-Smith said.
“It’s a treasure trove for books,” said local Ryan Shauch, who stopped in to buy books for his wife and children.
“Here you can just flip through things, spend some time in the shelves,” said Adam Slamin, a graduate student who grew up in the area.
Slamin is one of many lifelong customers of Green Mountain Books. Crady-Smith recalls a man who frequented the shop as a boy, who came back with his infant son many years later. He wanted some of his son’s first memories to be of the store, Crady-Smith said.
The store’s 50th anniversary celebration is planned for 4 p.m. on July 3. Cake and champagne will be served, and Crady-Smith hopes that partygoers will remember past experiences at the store.
“I am hoping those gathered will tell stories and memories of the best moments,” she said. “It won’t be a long event.”
In addition, Crady-Smith plans on making a commemorative bookmark for the Anniversary. Doyle and her family plan on attending.
“My family comes to Vermont on the 4th of July because it’s my mother’s birthday, and we always celebrate,” she said.
Doyle is excited to attend the anniversary, and she’s proud of the progress the bookstore has made over the years. The first few years were difficult, both spiritually and financially, she says.
”I feel like it’s a real testimony to my parents for starting the store and having the vision and the struggle to do it. It was not easy,” she said.
