DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — What began as a passion project for one local couple has blossomed into a unique destination, a four-storefront bookstore offering banned books, comics, and a diverse selection of 10,000 to 14,000 titles
- OtherWorlds Bookshop, located in Sturgeon Bay, inside the historic Park Place Mall.
- Shoppers inside the bookshop explain why they continue to shop at the store.
- Maragaret Magle of OtherWorlds Books explains what they have in shop for customers.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
For Margaret Magle, she knew that books were her calling.
"You always get asked what you want to be when you grow up. I wanted to be either a librarian, an English teacher, or work at a bookstore. I got even better—I own it" Magle said.
She and her husband, David, own OtherWorlds Books & More in downtown Sturgeon Bay, which they opened in 2018.
For shoppers like Patty Pratapas, it's the selection that keeps her coming back to the store.
"I just love the variety that they have here" Pratapas said.
They have a wide range of different titles on their shelves.
"Between comic books and regular books, I'm going to say close to 10,000 maybe 14,000 " Magle said.
Their oldest book is over 250 years old.
"This is our vintage room. It contains all of our vintage books, which is anything from 1970s paperbacks up to 1771. That’s our earliest book" Magle said.
She says that sixty percent of their books are used, but they also have newer titles in every genre on the shelves. Ben Guth, said he loves the wide variety of books all in one store.
"Because normally, you'd have to go down to Green Bay to get more specific items, like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings" Guth said.
At the book store, they don't shy away from banned books.
"This is our banned book shelf. We have three of them, actually" Magle said.
They have around 100 banned books, with about 40 available for customers.
Noah Purzyski, a regular at the bookshop, says these books are crucial for understanding the past and confronting uncomfortable truths.
"Just removing something that children should be reading, like To Kill a Mockingbird, because it makes things a little uncomfortable—that’s the point" Purzyski said.
Magle said some of their used books have even been reunited with their previous owners. For others, it's a way to pass down the books they loved as children to the next generation.
