By Danielle Lancaster
With the grey skies lingering yesterday
it was been a mostly inside day yet one filled with discovery.
After a much needed and relaxing
manicure and pedicure with my daughter – yes now sporting bright red toe nails
and light pink finger nails though in truth don’t have much in the way of
fingernails - I found my two sons next door in a second hand book store. Soon
we were all rummaging through the neatly packed shelves of books all perfectly
indexed into authors and subjects.
At the front of the shop a grey
headed gentleman sat quietly reading today’s paper though he soon realised we
were genuine book lovers and enquired on our preferred reading subject matter.
Already Mitch had under his arm ‘Eurpoe of the Ancien Regime 1715-1783’ when he
soon spotted a Terry Pratchett book in the front window. Of course the book was
the furtherest in the bay window but the gentleman retrieved it for Mitch
without a word of fuss. After reading the reviews, intro and already being a
few pages into it within a couple of minutes, Mitch was digging out his savings
to purchase it.
To say Mitch loves book stores is an understatement. So finding this store was an added bonus during our visit to Melbourne and yes we walked out with a bag of worthy reading matter. Sitting at the table is Ken Cox.
By now the rain was falling heavily
and the gutters were becoming miniature rivers flowing over the cobbled road
edges. A good excuse we thought to stay a few minutes longer.
The shop we had discovered was “Out
of Print Books etc” which you’ll find at 739 Glenhuntly Road, Caulfield. The
gentleman, Ken Cox proudly told us, ‘we are on line, you know, so even if you
want something you can search on line and I can send it up to you in
Queensland.’
Now please don’t take this the
wrong way, but I was at first a little surprised at Ken’s on line presence
however I was soon to find out not only does this gentleman have a profound
love affair with books old and new he understands that the web is a means of
research, communication, a way to stay in business and most importantly for ken
a way to connect with other book lovers.
Ken first turned this love affair
into a business selling second hand books from a tiny shop near Caulfield Park
before moving to the Glenhuntly Road premises eight years ago.
His wife Beryl works searching for
out of print titles while soon Mike has been on board in the business now for
more than 12 years.
I am curious, what is the ‘etc’ for
in the title of the shops name? Ken explains that not only do they stock
thousands of classic out of print books and provide a specialised service in
finding out-of-print titles they also have modern second hand titles as well.
You’ll find books for all ages and
reading genres here from Australian classic, crime, science fiction, romance, history,
art, travel, sport: well I am sure you are getting the drift – you name it they
will try and find it.
As we scroll the shelves we spot
classic children’s tales that bring back memories of the stories my
grandmother’s read to me while the more modern Harry Potter series also sit
waiting for a new home and the pages to be turned.
Neatly lined books line the shelves at “Out of Print Books etc”
I could have stayed and chatted
with Ken longer but my children had other things on their to do list in
Melbourne for the day so it was time to bid Ken farewell and wish him luck.
For book lovers out there, check
out Ken’s little store or go on line and they may be able to find you that
title you have been looking for.
“Out of Print Books etc”
739 Glenhuntly Road, Caulfield,
739 Glenhuntly Road, Caulfield,
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Hours
Mon - Fri 10:15 am to 6:00 pm
Sat - Sun 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Sat - Sun 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Contact
Ph +61 3 9528 3822
http://www.outofprintbooksetc.com.au
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