Book ReViews came into being in 1989, born out of the vision of Ruth Unrau, a resident then of North Newton, Kansas. Ruth gathered a group of friends to share her dream of a bookstore that would recycle and sell used books to a reading public. With her life in Bethel College and as a member of the well read community surrounding the college she perceived both a supply of used books and of persons willing to purchase books at a reasonable price. Out of that gathering came approximately eight volunteers to assist Ruth in fulfilling her dream.

Ruth and her spouse, Walt Unrau, began to collect books in their home. When a small room became available for rent in the newly remodeled 2500 Place along Main Street in North Newton, Book ReViews came to reality. Sales that first year were about $8000, not bad for a dream. The store in its attempt to operate economically shared a telephone with the adjoining 10,000 Villages store.

Ruth Unrau hired Judith Bartel as the first and only employed staff person to assist in the management and operation of the store. From the very beginning the vision was that the profits from the store would be contributed to charitable causes. Ruth and Walt Unrau designated the Western District Conference of the Mennonite Church as the recipient.

When 10,000 Villages closed, Book ReViews moved forward for street side exposure, and as inventory grew it finally claimed both 12 by 12 rooms. Sales also grew, reaching over $15,000 by 1992. For a time an attempt was made to operate a small coffee shop, then original artwork was sold alongside of books, and an attempt was made to market books in downtown Newton through the food coop.

The next step of faith was taken when the adjoining former Quilt Fabric store closed and a space was available that allowed expansion for inventory in 1200 sq. ft. of space. Sales continued a slow but steady growth, achieving a new record of $25,000 by year 2000. New volunteers continued to come forward.

In 2002, Ruth and Walt Unrau, long time residents of North Newton and sometimes volunteers for service in India, made a major decision to relocate to Bluffton, Ohio where she subsequently founded Book ReViews Etc. But what was to happen to Book ReViews in North Newton; was this the end of a grand venture? Again the Unrau’s contacted supporting friends, asking whether there would be interest in purchasing the store, which up to that time had been under the private ownership of the Unrau’s.

Six couples came forward collectively pledging $11,000. This was understood as a loan which would be repaid based upon future earnings. The twelve persons involved began to meet to plan for the transition; together they determined with the assistance of legal council (Brian Woods of Hesston), that the best route would be to form a not-for-profit corporation. Papers were filed, and the store transitioned with a new corporate structure, but with the same goals and the same volunteers.

Book ReViews continued to prosper under the new arrangement. A board was formed (originally six persons with one from each of the couples making the investment). Robert Schmidt became the manager, assisted by Judith Bartel. First Frank Quiring and then Lester Ewy served as chair of the Board. By the end of 2002 for the first time total annual sales topped $30,000.

In addition to the regular sales through the store, in June of 2003 Book ReViews was given the opportunity to host the Lydia Mayfield Estate Book Sale, receiving 50% of the sales. The community room of the North Newton City Building was rented and filled with a multitude of books. Total sales were $947.27 and the store netted $279.75. The week end sale became a model for marketing our excess stock for several years.

In late 2005 we began to receive indications that the Western District Conference, the owner of 2500 Place, was looking to add space for its own needs and that this might impact our occupancy. At the beginning of 2006 we were offered a six months lease, meaning that our time was limited to make other arrangements. Crisis was in the air. There were real doubters that Book ReViews could survive, and the long term volunteers were fast loosing energy to make a transition.

Despite doubters, there were others determined to find a new location, either in North Newton or somewhere in Newton. Visits were made to several locations, especially in the Newton business district along Main Street. Two persons stepped to the plate and brought new energy and vision. Marvin Zehr became chair of the board, the first person outside the original founding group. Vern Preheim offered to spend “limited hours” as the new manager following the resignation of Robert Schmidt.

Finally the location of 707 Main Street was determined as the best option. It had formerly been the popular Acapulco Mexican Restaurant and certain brick interior features remained, which we thought could be incorporated. The former kitchen became our religion room! For the first time, there was a large space in the rear of the store for storage and processing of incoming books.

Transitions are never easy. We first of all needed to greatly reduce inventory in the North Newton location, so plans were made for major sale efforts. Only the best books were kept for the new location. Finally shelving had to be dismantled and moved by special volunteers. But with the greatly expanded space of approximately 3000 sq. ft., additional shelving was needed. It so happened that at exactly that time the old North Dillons store was closing; from their pharmacy they donated a substantial number of quality steel shelving to Book ReViews. A crew was there to dismantle, move, and reassemble.

No longer beholden to the Western District Conference and desiring a broader relationship with the greater Newton community, the board determined that future profits from the new operation would be given to diverse local charities. The Newton Kansan has generously reported these donations, probably our best form of advertising.

Book donations now began to flow like never before. The processing room was almost constantly full of books awaiting the pricing process. The shelves were full in the retail area. Yet we continued to sell more books than ever. By the end of 2008 total annual sales had reached over $50,000! And that year we contributed $12,000 to local causes such as the Community Playschool, Peace Connections, Safe House, Habitat for Humanity, Agape Resource Center, and CASA.

From early on Robert Schmidt had operated his own Internet sale of books, using the Internet site known as ABE Books. Robert had listed occasional books from Book ReViews and returned a portion of the sales to the store. With the new store it was determined that we develop the capacity to market more books via the Internet. A computer was donated for that purpose and $1000 worth of free software was obtained through Tech Soup.

Vern Preheim took a leadership role on Internet sales. Volunteers were recruited to enter books on the ABE Books website, and at the time of this writing over 3000 titles were listed from Book ReViews. Internet sales also increased, averaging 60 sales per month during 2008. It was becoming a significant percentage of total annual sales. Recently a small booklet entitled The Rights of Women, dated 1794, sold for $340.

Book ReViews remains a vision of what can be accomplished when people come together to fulfill a mission. It is a used book store, but it is much more. It is a volunteer project. It is a recycling project. It is a community service. It is a paradise for book lovers and bargain hunters.

-John A. Esau

1/23/09