Reader’s Corner: 29 Years Later, a Dream is Realized
If you’ve ever listened to This American Life on WUNC, you can thank Reader’s Corner for being able to hear the program. The store known for the large selection of books for 10 and 25 cents on the west end of Hillsborough Street paid for the show to be brought to North Carolina Public Radio. Over the course of the past couple of decades, they’ve donated several hundred thousand dollars to the station from the proceeds of the books out front. There’s quite a bit more to this used book store than the inexpensive books available 24/7, though.
In 1980, Irv Coats (above) took over Reader’s Corner after it had been in business for five years. He didn’t like the name at first, but over time began to like it and decided to keep it. He had been retired (from a career as a research physicist) for a few years by that point.
For being retired, he sure stays busy. He rides a bike to work every day, doesn’t go on vacation, and works 7 days a week.
This is my retirement, and it’s better than any vacation! There will be plenty of time for lying around when you’re dead. I can’t wait to get up in the morning and come to work.
- Irv Coats, owner of Reader’s Corner
One of the more interesting things about this place are the items you’ll find on the walls. All are things that have been found in books, and range from the antique (above, a receipt from 1872), to the comical, and the bizarre. Perhaps most common are photographs. As I was asking about some of the more unique items that have been found, I happened to notice my friend Amanda in a couple of photographs on the wall. I later asked her about it, and she said that she was just as surprised to discover it while browsing some time ago. Staff members sometimes pass on the really interesting pieces to Found Magazine.
Todd Morman, local celebrity and host of Monkey Time on RTN.
Tim over at Nice Guy Syndrome recently talked with Irv about the state of used book stores, internet sales, and the effect of the economy on the individual seller:
Able to spare a few moments between logging internet sales and heading for home, Irv–sitting at his desk in the back room of the Reader’s Corner–started out by telling me, “The conventional wisdom has always been that used bookstores would thrive in a bad economy. Well, the experiment is now testing the hypothesis.” In his own case, the hypothesis is being proven correct, as his store is doing well. … but added: “Internet sales are really putting the squeeze on the brick and mortar people.”
You can find some of the inventory from Reader’s Corner online too. Only about 1% of stock is available, but it’s the more expensive and more difficult to find items listed. The sales from these books often offset a period of slow business and keep the shop profitable.
The store has a few simple rules that they ask you to abide by.
I continued with Tim’s line of questioning about the future of print and the individual bookseller. I asked what the future of book selling may look like in 10 years:
Will ebooks put me out of business? I don’t know. I’ve got a kindle. I use it to read the New York Times every day, but it’s not the same.
I don’t see us changing. We’re in the business of books and the experience of it. The store is now what I always dreamt it would be when I started. It’s finally doing now what my business plan was. I’ve fulfilled it completely. I don’t intent to change it, I’ve got what I want.
–Irv Coats
He mentioned that he recently purchased the building after having to rent it for nearly 30 years. The original owner refused to sell, but was finally allowed to after ownership changed hands this year. My guess is that the recent purchase of the building was the final piece missing from the puzzle.
I said it almost two years ago, and will say it again: Reader’s Corner is my favorite book store.
3201 Hillsborough St
(919) 828-7024
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06/25/2009
It’s my favorite book store too! We’ve been customers for … well decades now! My kids enjoy going, too.
Thanks for the article on Irv and Reader’s Corner. I showed it to my husband and my kids.
(p.s. I used to live in Wilmont, just across the street. Now is THAT temptation or what! ;-D )
06/25/2009
Thanks for another interesting post, John. You do such a service for Raleigh, telling us tales that we never would’ve known if it weren’t for your blog. Keep up the beautiful writing and photography!
06/25/2009
I have loved this place since my undergrad days at State back in the early ’80s. I am looking at literally hundreds of volumes I’ve purchased there over the years on my bookshelves in front of me. And they used to have a killer vinyl selection as well.
I hesitate to write the following, but I feel it needs to be said. I’m sure Todd Morman is a nice person and when I had Time/Warner cable, I watched Monkeytime fairly regularly. But I don’t go to the Reader’s Corner to hear him LOUDLY share his expertise and opinions on every subject under the sun with anyone who will listen. I have to say, he has ruined the Reader’s Corner experience for me – and I make it a point to stay away whenever he’s there. Sorry. Just my two-cents.
Thanks Irv for a wonderful place of which I have MANY happy memories, both tangible and intangible.
06/25/2009
Speaking of ‘The American Life’, I remember hearing a show about mapping Halloween pumpkins in a Raleigh neighborhood (I later learned that it was the Boylan Heights neighborhood) when I was still in Iowa. Once I moved to Raleigh I was curious about the origin of the story but never followed up. One day a couple of years ago, I was shopping for Books at Reader’s Corner and I met Denis Wood (who work/ed at the bookstore). I learned that HE was the guy from the show. I felt a bit starstruck because I had studied Geography in college and finding a story that made maps fun was really exciting. He also gave me a free copy of his book, ‘The Power of Maps’. The radio show can be found here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1211
Cheers to the Geography of Pumpkins in Raleigh, NC!! (and cheers to a bookstore that brings us NPR programming)
06/25/2009
….a story about the Pumpkins can be found in the book, “You Are Here”, a book about personal geographies. I would bet that Reader’s Corner has it, or could get it for you.
Apparently there is an atlas of all the mapping — does anyone know if Reader’s Corner carries this? I would really love to see it. Denis and his students mapped: utilities, trees, tree roots, street lights, light from street lights, graffiti in cement, fall leaf colors, house color, #steps up to front porches, stars viewable from the neighborhood, wind chimes, clothes lines, etc.
06/25/2009
The Readers Corner was one of my favorite parts about living at the Fincastle. And Todd and Irv were both regulars at Subconscious during the years I worked there. I feel honored to be on their bookshelf ;) Thanks for the memory (and link!)
06/25/2009
Hands down, my favorite bookstore in Raleigh! This is the best place to get lost in for hours on end.
06/27/2009
Most folks don’t know that Irv was also one of the first white people to join desegregation protests in Raleigh in the early 1960s, when it took real courage to do so. He has some great stories from those times. Thanks for the piece, John. And to the anonymous person who has the weird grudge (didn’t you post the same comment on the Raleighing.com site years ago?), Sunday and Monday are my days off. Don’t deny yourself the best used bookstore in Raleigh on my account, please. :)
06/29/2009
I dropped a box of books there recently to help my sister make room for her new baby. I told them they could just have the books, but before I was able to get in the car to leave, Todd ran out with a five dollar bill for me. It was very kind of him, and we decided to buy locopops to celebrate.
06/30/2009
Irv Coats is certainly an unusualy person with a midwest background folks would be amazed to learn. I remember when he worked on a poultry farm in the summertime saving his money to pay his way to college. His mother baked home made bread but he would go to Union Star, a town of 400, and purchase a loaf of bakery bread and store in the refrigerator provided for him to keep his lunch. He didn’t collect his pay until time to go back to college. No wonder he is willing to work 7 days a week and enjoys his retirement. Irvin, I’m proud of your accomplishments and your work ethic.
07/02/2009
John, that first photo is fucking amazing. Sorry for the language, but it deserves it. I have a story I’ll tell you about Reader’s Corner that can’t be placed on the world wide web.
07/02/2009
Thanks to Kit Clarke for starting and opening the Reader’s Corner back in the 1970s. The name was her idea. She felt every reader should have a corner to tuck into to read a good book.
07/02/2009
Thanks to Kit Clarke for starting and opening the Reader’s Corner back in the 1970s. The name was her idea. She felt every reader should have a corner to tuck into to read a good book.
P.S. Yes, Kit is my Mom and she is still in Raleigh. She sold the bookstore after I got robbed at knife point there.
07/30/2009
RC is the best!
10/04/2009
We recently moved to Florida and I do miss stopping at RC. The prices are just and the trade policy is honest and fair. The selection is thoughtful and varied. I hope RC will continue to thrive and provide readers with something worth reading for many years to come.
11/07/2009
Not just the best used book store in Raleigh, it is the best bookstore in Raleigh used or not. It is one of the places I visit whenever I am in the area (I live in Norway but visit on business two or three times a year). My other favourite bookstore is Massolit Books in Krakow, Poland; if you are ever there do visit them (it’s an English language store by the way). The problem though with all such bookstores is that they are hard to discover, perhaps some kind soul could run a website collecting recommendations for used book stores around the world.
01/04/2010
reader’s corner–one of the best things about Raleigh.
08/15/2010
@Kevin Whitefoot
“The problem though with all such bookstores is that they are hard to discover, perhaps some kind soul could run a website collecting recommendations for used book stores around the world.”
There is a great website for European bookstores:
http://www.bookstoreguide.org/
Maybe someone has done/could do the same for the U.S./Canada?
01/05/2011
Martin,
Librarything.com is a huge fan of local bookstores, used and otherwise, and I believe they have some local bookstore discovery tools on their site as well as the ability to add more bookstores if yours is not there.
I do love Readers Corner. But I do make a point of steering clear of it. Not because of Todd, because it’s always a joy to talk to Todd, but because it is impossible for me to walk out without more books then I intended to buy, and my bookshelves cannot handle it. Perhaps I need to learn to make deposits as well as withdraws at Reader’s Corner, but the pack rat in me does not like to let go.
02/18/2011
i think i would go thru withdrawal symptoms if this place ever closed. i would miss irv, brian and todd, who make every person feel special and comfortable. my daughter practically grew up in this place and one of her favorite people was Mr. Chris. he would draw pictures with her and make her feel special. of course ALL of the people did that, i think she was fascinated with his dreds.
robyn
09/08/2011
I have 4 sometimes wild children aged 11 and under, which makes shopping sometimes a challenge. I have never, ever felt anything but welcome at Reader’s Corner, and I cannot express enough how much I appreciate Todd Mormon’s always taking time to talk to the kids. That (and the free candy), makes their day, and mine.
09/10/2011
I first started going to the Reader’s Corner as an undergrad at NC State in 1985. I live in Charlotte now, but when my ex-wife moved the kids to Cary 4 years ago I started taking the kids there once a month when I came up to spend the weekend with them. Now it’s a routine the kids have grown to expect and love — going to Snoopy’s for hot dogs Sunday afternoon, then to the Reader’s Corner where the kids and I all stock up on books for a month. It’s helped me connect with my kids and instilled a love of books in them that I hope will last into their adult lives, and I hope the Reader’s Corner will too.