QUAD-CITY TIMES
Article by Mary Louise Speer on April 18, 2001

People entering Muscatine Books and More are quickly connected to the past and the present.

The bookstore is spread out through the first floor of a building that pre-dates the Civil War era. The smells of cappuccino tempt customers as well as shelves filled with books and examples of art work by local artisans.

Owners Sharon and Tom Savage say the bookstore fills a long-standing void in the Muscatine community. It opened for business last August. "We used to have a B. Dalton's in Muscatine," but it closed several years ago Sharon said. "It became clear to us if we wanted a bookstore in Muscatine, we would have to do it ourselves."

The couple are approaching retirement and thought this was a good transition from their work at Muscatine Community College where Tom is a counselor and Sharon a part-time adjunct instructor.

Possibly the most challenging task was finding the right location for the store. Both immediately fell in love with the building at 124 E. 2nd St It was rescued from possible demolition by the local historic society.
"It wasn't hard to decide. It just looks like a bookstore you'd find in a movie. It's in the center of the downtown area where the history lives and they put up flags" Sharon said.

The first floor was first used as an apothecary shop during the Civil War era, then became a hardware store after the war. The embossed, high tin ceilings, gleaming hardwood floors, Persian rug conjure up images of luxurious comfort from an earlier time.

Books and More has a wide variety of local and Iowa history books as well books geared to many other interests. "When you open a book store, there are companies who will help you decide on a collection", Sharon said. Being an independent bookstore gives the couple flexibility in selecting their inventory The store carries the Book Sense 76 collection of recommended quality reads by Independent Booksellers of America.

"We don't focus on the school age because the schools sell books. We do have books for preschool children," Sharon said. These are kept in the children's area that has toys and a rug for kids to roll on.
She runs the store with help from two part-time assistants and Tom, who stops to help in at lunchtime and after work and during the weekend. His favorite activity at the store is when books arrive and we open the boxes. It's like Christmas morning it's fun being here in this building," he said.

Customers can sit down at the glass-topped tables in the back and enjoy a cup of cappuccino and a slice of cheesecake while tackling homework or browsing through a book. The area also offers plug-ins for people wanting to use laptop computers.

Displayed underneath glass tops are pictures from Muscatine's early history and quotes about everyday events from people of those eras. A sample:

"...During the early days of the pearl button industry in Muscatine, small family factories sprang up to cut button blanks from mussel shells. As the industry grew, the processing of the shells increasingly became the province of larger companies, but fishing for the mussels continued to be a family enterprise. Typically, the men of each family would take out their clam boats to favored fishing spots, while the women and children kept the home cooking pots burning in order to free the shells from the mussels inside. A bonus to the wearisome steam cleaning job was the occasional discovery of real and baroque pearls."
Muscatine, A Pictorial History by Jon Carlson 1984, Quest Publishing, p.78.

Books and More is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday -Thursday. 10-7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. The store is open until 10 p.m. the last Friday of each month for the Acoustic Jam with blue grass and folk musicians. The public is lnvited.

For more information, call
(563)263-4272.