By Diane Dobry
TIME TRAVEL THROUGH A BOOK STORE
COBLESKILL — At a wooden storefront with white-framed bay windows on Main Street in Cobleskill, a screen door rings a cowbell when opened to announce my arrival. Painted on the front windows in old-timey fonts are the words “Catnap Books, Used & Antiquarian” with random words representing the types of books to be found inside. That old-time theme continues inside as soothing 1940’s music plays softly on Satellite radio behind the counter. The labyrinth of book shelves surrounding every step of the wood-floor path into the shop serves to draw customers further in to explore the thousands of used, new, and collectible books filling the shelves and expanding into piles on the floor. This legendary location is a 30-year establishment that, as a cat is believed to have nine lives, has survived and thrived through many ups and downs of changes in the area as well as through the lockdown of the recent pandemic.
SENSING A NEED
In the early 1990s, owners Jim and Roberta Brooks were both working full-time jobs when Jim, a teacher of special education in Cobleskill and Gilboa, noticed a “for rent” sign on a small shop on Main Street in Cobleskill. His love of books prompted him to take a chance on converting his home business selling used and collectible books, which he sold out of an antique center in Oneonta, into a storefront in Cobleskill. With the help of a relative, Jim set out to line the shop, which was originally only half the size it is today, with as many shelves as would comfortably fit. When the shop next door became vacant, the landlord opened up an entryway between them so Catnap could expand.
Jim’s original idea was “to sell a combination of used and rare hard-cover fiction books.” Back then, Roberta explained, a box of used books could be purchased for a few dollars.
“Most people thought we were crazy,” she said, because they did not expect a book store to be a hit in a rural community. “But we wanted to give it a try.” Being in Cobleskill, they decided to also sell recent, used books at a lower price. Their overall inventory includes a combination of used and rare books, with paperbacks generally selling for $1 and hard cover fiction for $5.
At first, friends helped out overseeing the shop, which had shorter hours at the time. By 1998, Roberta, who worked as an adult protective supervisor in Delaware County at the time, quit her job to work full-time at the shop.
WORD SPREADS FAR AND WIDE
Catnap’s reputation spreads via word-of-mouth recommendations. “We’re not on any social media,” Jim said, though they do sell books online and have reviews on sites like Yelp! “When you own a bookstore, you meet interesting people.” Anyone famous? I wonder. “Andy Rooney was here many years ago,” Jim said. “Otherwise, none that we know of.”
Local authors who write about local history, sometimes ask if they can do a book signing there when they release a new publication. For a while, the store hosted popular Catnap Chats, talks on book collecting, but they soon ran out of room. “Sometimes a local historical society will invite us to give a chat, and we talk about book collecting,” Roberta noted, explaining that they describe what makes a book collectible, different genres of collectible books--such as literature and the classics, what to look for as far as condition, and how to determine if it is a first edition.
Roberta noted that they have been in the homes of many collectors, to buy books, and that their customers travel from outside the area—as near as New York City and as far as Canada--to buy “boxes and boxes of books.”
“We have customers that have interesting and obscure collections,” Roberta reports. These may include topics from World War II to local histories. They find the most popular cover local history, agriculture, nature, sci-fi, religion, and children’s books.
In addition to books, the shop sells ephemera from historic documents, maps, and almanacs, to advertisements, and catalogs, but they stay away from cards and comics. As an example, they showed me a Cobleskill report card from 1919 and mentioned that sometimes they even come across historic diaries.
MEETING READING NEEDS DURING LOCKDOWN
It may be that being a bookshop was a lucky thing during the lockdown. Though some may have binge-watched series and movies, book lovers had a chance, and a hankering, to fill their days devouring new titles and topics. With book lovers from New York City escaping to the countryside and flocking to the shop to stock up on material to fulfill their hunger for reading material, Catnap shut down even before the county required it.
“While we were closed, we had customers get in touch with us asking us to send them books or gift certificates,” Roberta said. Counties required businesses to come up with a plan for keeping customers safe upon reopening, and the series of X-shaped tape markers on the floor remain as part of that history. After opening again, business thrived as there was still not much for people to do.
TAKING THE SHOW ON THE ROAD
Outside of the shop, the couple participates in antiquarian fairs and antique shows from New York City to Maine as well as local antique shows, such as the Cooperstown book show in June and The Colonial Heritage Association at the Schoharie Depot in September.
SHARING IS CARING
Jim and Roberta partnered with nearby Brick House Bakery in past years between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day; customers who spent $15 at Catnap got a coupon for a large hot beverage, two cookies, and two doughnuts. When collectors come to the bookshop for their day out, they want to find a place to eat and drink, so Catnap wanted to support a local business that met that need.
They also give the library discounted gift certificates young people when there are special events for kids. Locals also look forward to the times that the shop culls books from their shelves and put them out for free on tables in front of the store which helps “find a book a home without putting it into the recycling bin.”
WHERE AND WHEN
Come visit Jim and Roberta’s Catnap Books at 574 Main Street, Cobleskill, NY. Hours in spring, summer, and fall are every day from 10 am to 5 p.m. In winter they are closed on Sundays. Reach them by phone at 518-234-4514.
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