Havre's last dedicated bookstore closes

The Havre Book Exchange is closing its doors after nine years of supplying Havreites and Hi-Liners with a dying commodity.

David Shaw, the owner of the bookstore, said the shop is not completely closed down yet, but the doors have been closed until he can sell it, find someone to run it or close it down completely and lease the space.

"You can't sell many books these days," Shaw said.

Bonnie Williamson, former Havre-Hill County Library director, said it saddened her to see the bookstore fail.

"I just think it's hard for bookstores," Williamson said. "It's so easy for Amazon. I hate to see bookstores go away."

Williamson said she believes bookstores will not last. The library has found a niche with being a community center, so they will last, she said, "but it isn't the books that keep them going."

"A book will never fail you ... a Kindle will run out of batteries," Williamson said. "It saddens me to see a local business struggle."

The decision to close the bookstore came when Shaw was unable to make payroll from the money the store was bringing in. He said he has three options: to find someone to buy the store and its inventory, finding volunteers to run the store or close it down and sell the space to someone else.

"If the owner ran it and just hired someone part-time when they couldn't be there, that would be perfect," Shaw said.

Shaw said the store would be perfect for retirees who would be willing to run the shop themselves.

"It just quite won't make minimum wage," Shaw said, explaining why he could not keep people on payroll. "But, if somebody (buys) it, it's going to be like giving it away."

The other option of having a volunteer or two run the store would force Shaw to look into the legal restrictions of that situation, as the store is a corporation.

There have been quite few customers expressing their disappointment in the store closing, Shaw said.

"There's quite a few customers," Shaw said. "I'd love to see it stay open, but I have too many jobs to do."

Shaw said anyone with credit at the book exchange can go to High Plains Gallery to have it honored.

If no one buys or volunteers, there will be a closing sale in the near future, Shaw said.

On the other hand, Montana had the best rate of bookstores per capita in 2012, according to Publisher's Weekly. This is in part due to Montana's comparatively low population and lack of big-name book retailers. Montana's rate was one bookstore per 15,705. Wyoming took second place with 16,469 and Vermont took third with 16,474.

Shaw said anyone interested in volunteering at the bookstore could reach him at 262-2308.