Mostly Books Returns
As Oracle Bookstore

By John Emerson
LIBERTY — August 11, 2000 – It has taken them months to reach this point, but within the next few weeks the former employees of Mostly Books will be opening their own bookstore to replace the one that was lost when Mostly Books closed last December.
Tasa Faronii, one of the movers and shakers behind the new store, said that the group is in the final stages of signing papers, negotiating a lease and securing the last of the funding necessary to get the store open. She said their original goal was to open before school started in September, but added the opening may be a little later in the year.
Mostly Books, a landmark in Monticello for years and the county’s only general service new books store closed its doors in Apollo Plaza on December 30, a victim of lessened foot traffic at the mall and cut-rate prices from online book sellers such as amazon.com and Barnes and Noble online.
Faronii, Tom Tenbus, and other store employees all felt the county needed a bookstore.
During the last several months, Tenbus, Faronii and the others have been working with the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development.
Vice-President for Business Development Marc Baez said the business development group assisted in finding the location, developing a business plan and securing funding for the new store.
“We felt that it was important to keep those jobs active,” Baez said. “We also thought it was important that the county had a bookstore available, and we didn’t want to lose that business.”
The new store, to be named the Oracle Bookstore, will be located in space at Liberty Square on Mill Street in Liberty. Faronii said the name came from events at Mostly Books.
“People were always calling with questions that really had nothing to do with books,” she said. “It seemed that if no one on the staff knew the answer right off, then one of the customers would know it. One day, one of the people in the store made the comment, ‘What do they think you are, the Oracle at Delphi?’ We had a list of about 60 names, but when we got to Oracle, everybody liked it, so that’s how we came up with the name.”
Faronii said that the new store would be very similar to Mostly Books, with new and used hardcovers and a sprinkling of rare books. Special clubs, such as the Scrabble club that was started not long before Mostly Books closed, will also be available, as will children’s reading hours and a paperback book exchange.
One of the things that they are adding is a tearoom setting where people can read, relax and enjoy coffee or tea while they are in the store.
Faronii said the goal is not to make money from the tearoom but simply provide a service for customers.
“We’ve worked out an arrangement with Bagels and More [also in Liberty Square], so there’s not going to be any problem,” she said. “We’re not competing with them.”
Linen Communications owner John Linen, who has one of his cellular telephone stores situated in Liberty Square, was delighted to hear the news about the bookstore.
“I think that’s great,” he said. “That’s the kind of business this place needs and will help with traffic. I hope they’re a big success.”