It’s a quiet Thursday morning 40 minutes before Written Words Bookstore opens.
A customer comes to the door wanting to come in, and owner Dorothy Broder welcomes him and tells him he can rifle around while she sets up store. Within minutes another customer comes in and they engage in a long conversation with Broder.
The store fills with their collective laughter.
In that same warm nature, Broder welcomed the Valley Independent Sentinel into the store on a recent morning, and talked about what it’s like to run an independent book store in a world filled with big box stores.
Dorothy owns the Written Words Bookstore with her husband David. The store opened in June 2007 in the White Hill Shopping Center, at 194 Leavenworth Road.
Valley Independent Sentinel: So Dorothy, why a bookstore? Why an independent bookstore and not a coffee house?
Dorothy Broder: We had one big desperate need. When my kids were born, I kept going to the Orange or Trumbull mall and the trips had to be well-planned to drag along children. Also, I don’t care for big box store mentality where the books are trashed. They strike me as very impersonal.
VIS: So how old are your children?
Broder: My oldest is seven and my youngest is four.
VIS: Are you a big reader?
Broder: My husband is a bigger reader. He’s a classic literature snob. My children like to read.
VIS: How’d you get the funding to open a new store?
Broder: We got a loan through Newtown Savings and mortgage on our home. I also cashed in IRA’s and part of my life insurance.
VIS: What’s your favorite book?
Broder: Oh God, you mean I have to pick one?
VIS: Okay, let me put it this way. If you had an entire day to yourself without the kids or work, what book would you chose to read and relax?
Broder: I would have to say it would be a children’s book. I appreciate the illustrations and the way they are put together.
VIS: What’s your comfortable reading style? Do you eat when you read or do you curl up with a cup of tea or coffee and read?
Broder: I won’t be eating. I don’t like to get crumbs on the book. It’s not the way to care for a book.
VIS: What’s your most current best seller? Is it on the New York Times best selling list?
Broder: The New York Times best selling list is not what people think it is. It is governed by number of books sold. Personally, it not my bible. Our best seller is Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
