Home to more than 250,000 books and no database to keep track of them all, The Last Bookstore is a literary treasure hunt where you truly never know what you might find. The store buys, trades and sells used and new books, LPs, DVDs and CDs. They also host readings, concerts, plays, film screenings and more.
Entering, you leave reality behind and lose yourself in the catacomb of shelves and tunnels made from books as well as plush couches and chairs.
Store owner Josh Spencer is passionate about books and chose the name “The Last Bookstore” because of the decline of bookstores as a whole.
“There is press about books going away and e-books taking over,” Spencer says.
However, he believes the threat of online copies may motivate people to keep the printed versions alive.
“I think the digital age has made print books more popular,” Spencer says. “It’s made everyone come out of the woodwork who really want to see books survive.”
Spencer usually starts his mornings at the bookstore’s warehouse. He can sort through stacks of books without haste and separate weathered books from sellable in seconds. Books in good shape are taken to the store while others are boxed for storage or prepared to give away to the needy.
“It’s kind of a fantasy job for anyone that likes books,” Spencer says. “ It’s not even work for me.”
