Before Curious Book Shop first set up shop at 307 E. Grand River Ave., its books were sold out of the basement of a former MSU student. Forty-three years later, the shop has three floors containing more than 50,000 books, magazines and more.
“I would call it eclectic,” store clerk Audrey Barton said. “It’s sort of an everyman’s book shop. We stock old, antique books, but we’re very welcoming to newbies and people of all kinds, too. It changes every day. It’s a goofy place.”
In addition to a variety of books old and new, Barton said they also stock other rare items.
“We have comic books, posters, weird old art pieces (and) lots of stuff,” she said. “It’s kind of like a museum in a lot of ways. You come in and you find all these weird, old books, but they’re all for sale, too. Our staff knows their stuff, and they’re happy to help and teach other people that stuff, too.”
Barton said the charm of the store extends far beyond their collection of old books.
“We’re in this really cool, old building with murals painted all over it,” Barton said. “It’s just a kooky old place in a block that’s pretty built up. People do photo shoots here. In fact,
Playboy came here for the Girls of the Big Ten photo shoot, and we have a lot of fashion and photography students come in.”
English freshman Taylor Donahue said it’s the atmosphere that draws customers into Curious Books instead of the other stores on Grand River.
“When I first walked in from outside, it was like stepping into a castle’s library from a Disney movie,” Donahue said. “I’m not saying they have absolutely everything ever in the history of the universe, but it feels like it.”
As the digital age progresses, e-books and other digital forms of reading become more popular and books become more extinct, forcing many book stores to go out of business. Still, Curious Book Shop has survived. Residential College in the Arts and Humanities freshman Molly
Signsrehmann said it’s all about the range of selection and the vibe of the shop.
“It’s very unique,” Signs said. “It has an individuality that people can relate to and respect. There is also a great diversity in the selection, yet with plenty of old and new books. It didn’t just have the best-sellers, but it still had Harry Potter. Every good book store should stock Harry Potter.”
Although Barton agreed that part of Curious Books’ survival was because of the atmosphere and the knowledge the store has to offer, she said a greater reason for their success comes from the support of the East Lansing community.
“We’ve managed partially because the books are so cool, but also because we are very unique and we have a lot of long-term, loyal customers who keep coming back,” Barton said. “Because of MSU, we have new students coming in each year telling their friends about us. It’s largely because of the community.”
Barton said real books will not die because of lingering readers who prefer a physical product.
“When you read a paper book, it’s like going on a journey,” Barton said. “There’s all that physical text on the page, and you know exactly where you are, and then when you’re done, you still have that book as a souvenir of the book that you’ve read. People like to collect them because they’re tangible, real things.”
Curious Book Shop will take part in the 56th Michigan Antiquarian Book and Paper Show on Oct. 7 at the Lansing Center, 333 E. Michigan Ave.
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