Arnprior, Ont. book store marks 30 years in business

Arnprior bookstore celebrates milestone Arnprior's only bookstore is celebrating 30 years in business. CTV's Dylan Dyson has more on the thriving business.

In a modern age of ever evolving digital technology, the only bookstore in Arnprior, Ont. is thriving in business.

White Pine Books is celebrating 30 years on Arnprior's main street this month, a feat that second-generation owner Jen Rusheleau is proud of.

"When my mom opened the bookstore in 1993, there was a gap for this industry in Arnprior," she tells CTV News.

Since its opening, the store has expanded to include a children's boutique and share retail entrances with handfuls of other local businesses over the years.

The bookstore also hosts author signings, book clubs, and writers' rooms. Rusheleau is hoping to continue evolving her family's store into a community hub.

"You don't meet a lot of upset people in bookstores," said store employee JJ Davis. "Generally people are pretty happy to be here."

"I know a lot of people can't picture Arnprior without a book shop."

White Pine Books' success has been found in keeping with the old-fashioned way of doing things, with the family not fearing the presence of Amazon or e-readers.

"Things like holding a book in your hand while you're reading it or giving a gift of a book to somebody else. It's still there, people still want it," Rusheleau said.

"And they want to come and talk about it, they want a home base, they want to be able to walk into a store and not just go on Amazon and 'this is what the algorithm told me to buy and so that's what I'm going to get.'"

The store offers books from all genres; from fiction and non-fiction, to autobiographies, travel, how-to, sports, and children's books.

"You don't have to be a scholar in order to come in and find a good book," adds Rusheleau. "I want to be a book store that has those literary options but also for those weekend readers as well."

And after turning the page on 30 years in Arnprior, White Pine Books is ready to write its next chapter in the community.

"I really think we were celebrating the next 30 years," said Davis.