PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A local bookstore that rescues and re-homes books is feeling the effects of the latest storms to hit our area. But it may not be in the way that you think.

What You Need To Know

  • Four years ago, with the help of his wife, George Brooks opened The Book Rescuers bookstore

  • They take in donated books from estate sellers, thrift stores and schools to keep them from ending up in the landfill

  • Since Helene and Milton, Brooks says people have "regretfully" dropped off books from their damaged homes

It’s a sweet escape once you get past the Christmas tree made out of books. That’s the feeling George Brooks hopes you get when you are transported while reading inside his bookstore.

“When you deal in books, we know that books are magical. The people are even more magical,” Brooks said.

Four years ago, with the help of his wife, he opened The Book Rescuers bookstore.

“Affordable literature is important, but also throwing away perfectly good books is a crime in our eyes,” said Brooks.

They take in donated books from estate sellers, thrift stores and schools to keep them from ending up in the landfill.

“Paperbacks and blue rays are $2.06, hardcovers $3.09, if they get to $50 or over or oversized, then they’re $5.15,” he said.

They’ve grown so much they had to expand to a new location in Largo with their low prices remaining the same.

Brooks said one thing that has changed are the donations from people hit hard by the recent storms.

“We’ve seen an influx of donations, but definitely regretfully so. Like, people aren’t happy to come in and donate them. A couple people have cried when they were doing it,” he said.

There’s no shortage of books at the store, so he hopes they can help restore some of those home libraries destroyed by the hurricanes.

“When the time comes and the community is having (to be) rebuilt, we have had people that have come in to replace their collections that they lost. And whenever someone tells us they’re replacing a flooded collection, we definitely hook them up. Not that our prices even need it,” he said.

So, whether it’s an old book, a new book or a banned book, it’s been rescued and available on their shelves.

“Our policy is if it’s ever been challenged, been taken off or attempted to be taken off a shelf in the United States at any time, we highlight it,” he said.

It’s a novel idea that he hopes the community continues to enjoy.