While Battenkill Books has maintained a presence in rural Cambridge, N.Y.—population 1,952, according to the 2020 census—since 1989, when local poet Ken Denberg founded it, Connie Brooks, the current owner, has operated it for 16 years. “We had just moved to Cambridge two or three years earlier,” Brooks recalls of her entry into bookselling in 2009. “We loved the community and wanted to do something that was centered here, that was about community building. And then this bookstore was for sale, for a good price.”
In addition to marveling at the audacity of operating a bookstore in such a small community, Brooks also laughs at the timing of her purchase. “The 2008 recession was getting into full swing,” she recalls, “and the Kindle was coming out. Customers were saying that print was dead.”
Not only did Brooks prove those naysayers wrong, over the past 16 years she and her seven employees have shaped Battenkill Books into a vibrant community hub that extends beyond the town of Cambridge.
After buying Battenkill, Brooks initially moved it into a 600-sq.-ft. space off of Cambridge’s Main Street. In 2015, thanks to a grant from James Patterson, Battenkill moved again, into a 2,000-sq.-ft. space on Main Street. While the store, which carries 7,500 titles (or 12,000 units), is a general full-service bookstore, there is an emphasis on children’s books (particularly middle grade) and adult fiction, plus local history and authors. “Our nature section is also really strong,” Brooks notes.
But community outreach is where Battenkill really shines. Brooks and bookseller Heather Boyne regularly provide book recommendations on WAMC, a public radio station that reaches listeners in parts of seven Northeastern states. Battenkill hosts a weekly “sit and knit” evening for customers that has proved popular. And Battenkill sponsors the Adirondack Art Chair Project, in which teens decorate chairs with literary themes; they are then displayed up and down Main Street all summer.
However, the programming that Brooks is most proud of is “Mud U,” a pop-up community education program that launched in 2022 and takes place in venues all over town in late March. “There were 25 classes the first year, and 40 this year, from sourdough bread making basics, to genealogical research, to how to grow houseplants; 500 people attended at least one class this year,” Brooks says. “Mud U has been my baby.” Noting that the season between winter and spring can be a period of “loneliness and isolation” for local residents, Mud U, which is free to all participants, is, Brooks says, “a way to connect with people in your community.”
