Belleville News-Democrat, Ill., Wally Spiers column [Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.]

Jan. 08--After spending nearly 17 years literally surrounded by books, Helen Costello is calling it quits.

She is selling off her inventory at The Bookworm, 4711 W. Main St., in Belleville. She will sell it book by book or in one big lot if someone is interested.

Her loyal customers are disappointed and have started coming in and buying books on sale by the bags full.

Everything that is regularly $5.99 and up is for sale at $1. Anything priced less than that is 50 cents, Costello said.

"It's a good deal," she added.

The sale will go on for as long as her collection lasts. She estimates it could be as long as three months. Or longer.

"I'm just guessing," she said.

The store has been open since she and a former partner bought the old Bookworm Bookstore inventory in August 1995 from a woman in Fairview Heights.

"We used to have new books, but not for quite a while now," she said.

She estimated there might be 50,000 books in the store. A customer thought more than that. There are books stacked in almost every available space.

Her former policy of taking books in exchange for more books no longer is in effect since she is trying to clear out the building space which she rents.

The sale began Jan. 1 but some people are still finding out about it, she said. She has already sold a few bookshelves that people will pick up after they are emptied.

The store is in space that was not used by the Costello Moye Insurance Agency started by her husband, John Costello.

"We both like to read and we had this extra room so we just decided to do it," she said.

The store is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

Costello said she will miss all the people, but it is time to move on.

"I've met a lot of good people," she said. "I've had a lot of interesting conversations in here."

Have a column idea? Call Wally at 239-2506 or 800-642-3878; or email [email protected].

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