Every small town needs a used book store. Not just to recycle books, but a place where readers can nab literary armloads to chow down like potato chips.
Ever since Hannah Plumb closed A Saddest Pleasure, Whitefish was bereft of one of its unique downtown hideouts. But weep no more. This past week, Amelie Dawson opened her Voyageur Booksellers. The cozy three-room shop decorated with Karen Minton’s colorful paintings and Erin Sabin’s origami mobiles lures you in with its congenial feel from natural light pouring in through big windows. “It used to be a dentist’s office a century ago,” Dawson points out.
The upstairs apartment transitions well from a space for tooth checkups into a bookseller stall. Walking in, you’ll notice shelves of travel books prominently displayed, hence the name of the shop. “I’m a big traveler and a big reader,” laughs Dawson. “I thought I’d combine the two passions.”
To fill her inventory, Dawson scoured her own library, went to book sales, ordered some online, and purchased Plumb’s collection. “I had more books than I knew what to do with,” she adds, describing the boxes full of tomes she had squirreled away in her house. She’ll also take books in on trade for store credit.
Two rooms separate fiction from non-fiction, and Dawson even carries some rare and first editions. A 1941 Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds caught my eye. You can even sip a free Montana Coffee Traders brew while you browse.
During summer, Dawson’s shop located above Artistic Touch on Central Avenue is open 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays. “It’s definitely a process with more books to come,” says Dawson.