Just down the road from Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick resides Twice- Told Tales Used Bookstore with it’s tall glass windows and community atmosphere.

According to Scott Johnson, member of the nonprofit Curtis Friends volunteer group, Brunswick is “a community that reads.”

“That is a two-fold blessing, in that we get a lot of donations that are really, really good books, and then we can sell them back to the public that likes good books,” Johnson said. “We like being in the middle of that routine, and I think it’s a contribution that we’re making to the local community that wasn’t being made other than annually by us. [Twice-Told Tales] will be a continuing presence that will hopefully evolve.”

The future of the book store is transforming. The hope is that Twice-Told Tales will be open yearround and include a coffee shop. However, everything is very new for Curtis Friends and the future of the bookstore will be determined as they work their way through it.

Judith Redwine, president of Curtis Friends, said the store would compliment the library’s massive annual book sale.

“In other communities, in fact, they’ve made more money with their book store and their book sales — the combination of the two — and so conceivably we could do the same,” Redwine said.

As donations pile up throughout each day, all books are inspected, cleaned and organized. After they have been combed through, books that are discarded are given to Irish Book Seller, which is an organization that buys books and sells them to a different audience. All selected books are organized and filed throughout the shelves and are available for purchase.

Every sale from the bookstore goes towards the library’s programs, activities and the variety of services that they support.

“Our one goal is to make money for the library to support Curtis functions,” said Redwine.

“So far, the bookstore has done well and we are quite pleased more with the comments we have gotten than the actual foot traffic,” said Johnson, who works along side Redwine at Twice-Told Tales.

Johnson and two others from the Curtis Friends Board, six to eight months ago, discussed how huge the annual book sale had become and after talking over different ways to raise money, the group proposed the idea of a bookstore and received significant interest from the Friends. Together they opened the bookstore one week after their annual book sale. After researching neighboring bookstores and store managing techniques they decided that opening the store would be the optimal decision financially and at the best interest of the community.

“We were concerned about having some enthusiasm because the book sale engenders great loyalty and enthusiasm and we knew we were taking something away that meant a lot to some people and very quickly they all seemed to be right on board and many of them are volunteering,” said Redwine.

Twice-Told Tales is run and adapted largely on the feedback it receives from volunteers and passers by. Johnson said that the best thing they have gotten since they opened on June 6 is the positive feedback. He said that includes comments about the selection and quality of books, as well as the store’s layout.

“We’ve got some really strong categories of books, Maine related things, history, that sort of thing which we find a lot of interest in this community for,” Johnson said.

Twice-Told Tales is open to the public six days a week, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and is located at 11 Pleasant St.