Miranda Books to close

Miranda Books doesn't look like a used book store. The shelves of books about traditional horticulture and military tactics are carefully alphabetized. The aisles are well-lit. The smells of mold and must are virtually absent.

In less than a month, Miranda Books won't be a used book store. Owner Susan Judge is liquidating her entire inventory and heading West.

"I'm not giving up on books," Judge said. "I'm not abandoning that at all."

Miranda Books will close its doors on Oct. 25. The space will be used by the Ginko Gallery, a studio space for fiber artists.

Judge bought Miranda Books nine years ago. "I was married at that time," she said. Recently divorced, Judge has been forced to try to convert a supplemental income to a full-time job. The pressures of working 70 hours a week without health benefits finally convinced Judge to give up the business.

"I came to a decision over the summer," Judge said. "I'd have to go further into debt or find something else to do."

Judge found something to do at Powell's Bookstore in Portland, Oregon. Judge will begin work there as a buyer in November.

"I'm going to Oregon," Judge told one woman who stopped by the cash register.

"Oh, you really are going away!" the customer said. "I wish you all sorts of luck. We'll miss you terribly."

Miranda Books' first incarnation was Backlot Books, a tiny store on Carpenter Court that was owner Milt Jordan's hobby. Judge purchased the store, and rechristened it in honor of her four-year old cat. Although Miranda has grown too ornery to stalk the store as she once did, an artist's rendtion of her sitting upon a pile of books is still the store's official logo. "I was worried someone would buy the store and want to change the name," Judge said. Judge needn't have worried. Nobody made a decent offer.

"Maybe it's too large of a store for anyone to feel comfortable taking over," Judge said. "You have to have a good feel for books. I'm the kind of person who reads three or four books a week. I've seen every book that's come into this store."

In 1991, Miranda Books moved into its present location on South Main Street. "We just dragged everything across the street in the snow," Judge said.

Judge has since built an inventory of 30,000 books. Some of the books stick around longer than others. "You can tell it's summer in Oberlin if we can keep Neitzche on the shelf," she said. "We have a whole list of what we call 24-hour books; Jack Kerouac, Maragaret Atwood."

Miranda Books is home to the largest collection of out-of-print music books in Ohio. "We've had enough to seperate Classical from Jazz," Judge said. "That's the thing I'm the proudest of. We have three or four double sided shelves of music books. And women's studies. At most bookstores it's back in the corner. Women's Studies is front and center in this store."

Oberlin resident Mike Haverstock has been shopping at Miranda Books for many years. He bought a discounted copy of The Crimson Jester on Thursday. "It's a marvelous story of Zapata," Haverstock said, gingerly leafing through the pages. "You see I'm interested in journalism, so I come here and I always find books on journalists. I hope very much someone continues this store because Susan has been marvelous."

Miranda Books has drawn patrons from the streets of Oberlin and the outback of Australia. Frustrated customers at Borders and Waldenbooks are referred to Judge. Judge regularly recieves orders from distant customers who are desperately seraching for specific titles. "A man in Albuquerque had been searching for a book for all these years," Judge said. "It was a scarce book about the internal ballistics of guns. I sent it off to him, and he sent me a note. That really makes you feel good."

Judge confessed that she is only able to locate about half the books that are requested. "I'm looking forward to being at Powell's so I won't have to say that so frequently."

"I'm glad I've been in Oberlin," Judge said. "It's a great place to raise a kid. My son's been coming to work with me since he was ten days old. He's been ringing up newspapers since he was three. This store is more my son's home than any house."

"He's excited about Oregon, and so am I," Judge said. "I've had to pare down my book collection to no more than 12 packing boxes. The first editions of Virginia Woolf and George Orwell, they're going with me."

The end is near:Miranda Books is liquidating its merchandise in its going out of business sale. (photo by John Matney)