About us

https://issuu.com/cachevalleyfamilymagazine/docs/final_mag_a09e7ac217bdbc/14

The Book Table was founded in 1933 by a woman who would travel to school book fairs selling books. All she had was a sack of books and a card table, and so the name “The Book Table” was born. After awhile she opened a store in the building that now houses the White Owl at 36 West Center Street in Logan, UT, which is around the corner from the present-day Book Table building. In 1974, Logan merchant/entrepreneur Gene Needham bought the Book Table and moved it to 87 North Main Street, where the used bookstore Books of Yesterday is now at. In addition to books, he diversified the store by adding things like video rentals and tape cassettes. In 1986, he purchased the old Keith O’Brien building at 29 South Main Street from the Thatcher family, and that is where the Book Table resides today. When it moved to the 36,000 square-foot building, the store was open in conjunction with an art shop, which later moved to its own location behind Cache Valley Bank. He also added stringed instruments to the inventory. At first there was no second floor to the store. Now, it has been remodeled and houses the Toy Department, the Scrapbook Table, the Education Department, and the Concert Hall. The Book Table has undergone major changes in the last ten years. The second floor was remodeled with balconies overlooking the General Books and LDS departments on the first floor, new staircases, and an elevator. There is now a Concert Hall, and the music department carries pianos, band instruments, guitars, drums, stringed instruments, as well as the largest sheet music inventory depth-wise by individual title in Utah. Recently, the basement was renovated and is now home to the School of Music. In February 2011, renovations on the old, much used recital hall began, and the name was changed to the Concert Hall to reflect the higher quality of the space. The store is one of only 1,700 independent bookstores still operating in the United States, a number that is shrinking rapidly, but the Book Table is still going strong and serves the residents of Cache Valley and visitors from all over the world today.