It's all about books and Mike Palozzi has them. "We have in excess of 100,000 books here (The Book Centre in the Village Plaza in Spencerport). Celebrating his 25th year of doing business at this location, he claimed, "I've had fun growing up with a town like this; every book has a story, I guess. One day I had some books for sale outside; Bill Brittain came in and said, 'Do you know you have one of my books outside?' So he brought it in and autographed it for me!" Mike has had two expansions of the store; it now occupies 1,800 square feet. Brittain, a children's book author, is the son of the late Dr. Knox Brittain, a physician and one of the founders of Spencerport Volunteer Ambulance. Photograph by Walter Horylev.

Bargain books galore at Spencerport book shop

Books, books and more books! Books line the four walls, burst from the shelves that line the aisles and overflow from boxes and baskets. Over 100,000 books are what make up Mike Palozzi's business, The Book Centre.

Located in the Village Plaza in the heart of the village of Spencerport, The Book Centre buys, sells, and trades paperbacks and hardcover books along with compact discs, comic books and video tapes.

Palozzi started his business over 25 years ago. He opened The Book Centre on July 14, 1981 with approximately 15,000 books and 700 square feet of space. As time passed, Palozzi's business grew. "I expanded in 1990 and 1999 and I now lease 1,800 square feet of space," said Palozzi. Spencerport resident and Book Centre customer Sheila Vandertang remembers when Palozzi first opened his book store, "I couldn't wait until the store opened."

Palozzi looked at many different locations for his store before choosing Spencerport. "I saw the type of businesses that were here and wanted to be a part of the hometown atmosphere here in Spencerport," said Palozzi.

Although he has seen some businesses come and go in the village of Spencerport, Palozzi is committed to staying in Spencerport despite a devastating flood. In the fall of 2004, high water over-whelmed the village of Spencerport, particularly the Village Plaza. "I had two-and-a-half inches of water in the entire store and lost 4,000 pounds of books. The water came across the plaza and circled this building," said Palozzi. But with the help of neighbors, friends and the community, he survived and the store re-opened shortly after this catastrophe.

Customer service and dedication are what drive Palozzi's business. "I enjoy my customers and helping people find the books they love and want to read," said Palozzi.

As he filled a bag with over 15 "Hardy Boy" books, Palozzi asked a young customer what he was going to do when he got home. The young boy replied, "Read my new books!" Palozzi commented, "This is what I love, helping people discover the joy of reading." He takes pride in his business, "Word of mouth has built my business, I try to offer good selections at good prices," Palozzi said.

Vandertang applauds Palozzi's expertise with books, "Mike is so knowledgeable about books. He understands the reading habits of his clientele and he knows where every book is in his store," said Vandertang.

The customers at Palozzi's store range in age from young children to senior citizens and The Book Centre offers a wide variety of genres of books. Palozzi said that there is no popular book genre that is sold at the Book Centre. "Some days I sell more romance novels and cookbooks, other days it could be books about religion and sometimes, I sell more books about military history. Every day is completely different." Palozzi also noted, "People need to get away from the stresses of life and reading gives them a way to do that."

Summer is the busy season at The Book Centre. "Teachers are off, kids have reading to do for school and people want to take books on vacation," explained Palozzi. The annual Spencerport Canal Days festival held in July in Spencerport, "brings us new customers," he added.

Television, movies, the Internet, computers and computer games can be considered competition to reading, but Palozzi explains, "As long as parents read to their children, books and reading will always be important in our lives."

The store is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday and Friday 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.