Located in British Columbia's beautiful Okanagan Valley, The Book Shop is one of Canada's largest used book stores. Over 5,000 square feet of floor space provides for the display of thousands of new, used and out-of-print books covering almost every subject imaginable. In addition to a vast selection of art, architecture, photography, literature and literary criticism/biography, and music books, there are large sections covering military history, nature, gardening, history, cooking, philosophy, sports, religion, archaeology, children's books, automotive and home improvement how-to's, hunting and fishing, health, business, exploration and travel, and the sciences. The Book Shop also maintains an extensive quantity of trade and mass-market paperback stock covering the genres of best-sellers, mystery, science fiction, westerns, and children's books. After an extended period of world travel, followed by time spent as a teacher in Vancouver, Bruce Stevenson returned to his childhood home of Penticton, B.C. in 1974 and opened The Book Shop. With more books, covering a greater variety of subjects than many small-town libraries, The Book Shop is something of an enigma in a city with a population of only 40,000 people. The Book Shop handles enough volume to employ six full-time employees as well as student help in the busy summer months. The huge variety and quantity of stock is a reflection of Bruce's basic business philosophy, "a second-hand bookstore should be everything to everybody, people must be enticed to return again and again, they won't come back if they feel they have seen it all in 10 minutes". In addition to books, The Book Shop provides nearly 20,000 video & DVD titles for rental to an ever-expanding customer base. The most extensive selection of foreign films available for rental in the Okanagan Valley complements major North American releases, film classics, independent films, childrens and animated titles.
