By Kristin Roberts
Boarding House Books is a haven for readers of all kinds. Nestled in historic downtown Claremore above Bike About, the building has been around since 1907. It was used as a boarding house for years and was only vacated by its tenants in the late 80s.
Now owner Janice Whittaker has transformed the space into something no less than magical. A friendly purple door welcomes customers from the streets, and paperbacks are stacked on each stair all the way to the top with tantalizing signs that say “25 cents each.”
Janice bought the space in ’06. Since then, she has been able to open up her two loves—bikes and books—to Claremore.
When thinking of a name for the business, her husband suggested, “How about Boarding House? After all, you are boarding a bunch of books.”
Janice has always been a voracious reader and loves trade stores, so that is exactly what Boarding House Books is. If you bring in a book to sell, it’s 50% trade 50% cash.
Each room in the store is dedicated to a specific section or genre. The room at the front which houses an antique library desk from the 30s holds current fiction as well as historical books. Popular authors and required reading for Rogers State as well as Claremore High School are near the front desk.
That is one of the things Janice is most passionate about; she loves helping people. All of the books are scanned in so they’re able to be looked up online. If she doesn’t have something in stock, she’ll order it for you.
“Anything to save customers gas and trouble,” said Whittaker.
She is also very helpful when it comes to assisting customers who might not be able to make it up the flight of stairs.
Janice says she is more than happy to bring books down to the bike shop, and recently she even delivered some books to a woman’s home when she found out her customer was wheelchair-bound.
There are surprises in each of the rooms in the Boarding House. Room 13 is horror (of course). There is Ye Old Book room, which is for copies of books who are a bit “tired.” Most of those were published in or prior to 1989.The Boarding House also features an ever-expanding children’s section. One of the most striking features of this quaint establishment is in the romance room. It very impactful and has become quite a draw for photo ops. In this room sits an antique claw foot bathtub (filled with books of course). Janice boasts, “Come bathe in our books!”
The organization of Boarding House is astounding. Every book rests snugly in its place. Janice herself claims no prior training in the book business.
In fact, she received an MBA in electrical engineering and worked for 22 years as an engineering manager. When asked about her meticulous nature regarding her precious books she replied with a flourish,
“Maybe in my past lives, there was a librarian in there somewhere!”
Janice states openly that she doesn’t want to fill the shop with knick-knacks, but she loves being a part of a free trade program and features bolga baskets made by a tribe in Africa.
These baskets adorn the center space of the shop, where author signings and Boarding House’s monthly book club are held.
Their group The Bookies is open to everyone and meets on the second Thursday of every month; the books are chosen by the readers. April’s book is The Tale of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski.
Janice ardently supports local writers such as Nicci Sefton, Tammy Mullins, and Dusty Richards, to name a few.
There is also a room near the back of the store she uses for Dickens on the Boulevard every year. Janice runs Boarding House Books with the help of two lovely ladies—Shellie Andrews and Susan Wong.
Shellie says, “She’s easy to work for. It’s fun, and I think my daughter would have a heart attack if I didn’t [work here]!”