Deborah Deats' shop offers lots of good reads
BY ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

PHOTO PROVIDED Deborah Deats, owner of Deb's Book 'n Things, looks throughher book collection.

BATH - When Deborah Deats retired as a school guidance counselor in 2006, 13 years had passed since she last stepped into a classroom as a high school English teacher.

Old habits have a way of sticking around, however. Deats, who taught high school English for 20 years in the Bradford school district before becoming a school counselor, had a basement full of books - history, detective fiction, lots of romance and plenty of the classics of literature.

"I had thousands of books, and I really needed to do something with them," Deats said in a recent interview. "I didn't want to sell them."

Her solution was to open Deb's Books 'n Things, a shop on Liberty Street that offers book lovers a chance to borrow books for extended periods of time in exchange for purchasing a three-month membership in Deats's reading club.

"People have told me it's a wonderful idea," Deats said. "Once the threemonth membership fee is paid, there are no time limits on how long a member can keep a book, and the members like that."

Supplementing the book club is a store where Deats sells locally made crafts on a consignment basis. She has more than 40 craft-clients who keep her shelves regularly stocked with items ranging from jewelry to photographs to intricately tooled pens.

But Deats thinks of herself as someone more than a shop keeper. She hopes her store, located at 5 Liberty St., helps attracts shoppers to Bath's central business district and sparks greater retail activity.

"I would really like to see small businesses able to sustain themselves," she said.

To date Deats' book club numbers about 25 members, with additional memberships available. Friends of the long-time Bath resident also enjoy stopping by the store, just to have a conversation surrounded by floor-toceiling bookcases.

It's a room that makes a visitor want to pick up a book and start reading - which is fine by Deats.

"I can't help it if I'm an old English teacher," she said. " I really want people to enjoy reading."