The Book Nook Turns Ten

This September the Friends marked the tenth anniversary of the Book Nook, the little book store tucked into the Morse Institute Library lobby. The Nook was the brainchild of Barbara Sanchez, long-serving volunteer and past president of the Friends.

The  idea of a bookstore at the Morse started in 2014, when Barbara and her husband Frank proposed the idea of using a series of display shelves on the right-hand side of the lobby. They researched neighboring communities’ libraries and took the data and a plan to the Morse Institute Library director and trustees, who embraced the idea. 

The self-service Book Nook opened on September 1, 2015. During the period of COVID (2020-21) when the library interior was closed, the Book Nook offered scaled-down service in the outer lobby. When the library reopened, director Jason Homer gave the Friends the use of three additional shelves, expanding the range of books on offer and adding puzzles and board games to the mix.

Today, thanks to patrons’ book and media donations and an enthusiastic book-loving community of shoppers, the Nook sells 150-200 books a week and raises $10,000 a year in support of library programs.