For 90-year-old Ruth Weaver, it all started with an encyclopedia.
She and her husband, Don, needed one.
In 1971.
“We lived just down the street and Don wanted an encyclopedia for our kids. Betsy Rider was able to get one for us and then we fell in love with the bookstore,” Weaver said.
Betsy Rider owned the bookstore, called The Otto Bookstore, which opened as a general store in 1841, evolved into its present form and survives until today.
One of America’s oldest independent bookstores sits in the heart of Williamsport.
It is synonymous with the city, which started as a borough in 1806 and only became a city in 1866. Which means Otto’s has lasted longer than Williamsport as a city.
“It's one of the landmark retail places. Everybody remembers The Otto Bookstore in some way, shape or form,” said Katy Nassberg, the store’s latest owner.
Betsy Rider kept the store tight within her family for decades, though she stepped away in her later years. Before Nassberg and her husband, Isak Sidebladh, bought it in 2017, Otto’s might have closed for good.
“Around mid to late 2016, Betsy Rider was looking to sell the store. It came to me through my mother that she was looking to retire,” Nassberg said. “They were looking to sell but the bookstore wasn't having much success, and there was a very good chance it could close.”
Nassberg enjoyed going there as a kid. She wanted to keep it going and it meant much to her to take it over. Her business background and Sidebladh’s publishing background helped. They never owned a bookstore before.
“We wanted to preserve its legacy. Helping to keep Williamsport’s legacy is something that's very important to my family,” she said.
Nassberg’s mother, Tabby Nassberg, is a longtime business owner. She devoted a lot of time to preserving the city’s Millionaires’ Row district and helped start the city’s Victorian Christmas displays.
“The idea of preserving and celebrating Williamsport history is something that's important, and especially this bookstore, which has been an institution for well, close to 200 years now,” Nassberg said.
She continues Otto’s warm, family-oriented atmosphere. Customers enter a cozy space with soft orchestral music and intimate reading areas. Books are spread around the store, divided into fiction, poetry, biographies, and other categories. The store can special order a book and have it for a customer in two days to a little more than a week.
That’s a lot different than when it started.
In 1841, it opened as A.D. Lundy and Co., which sold window shades, wallpaper, insurance and, of course, books. As the book business began to grow, the store focused on that.
By the turn of the 20th century, the name changed to The Loan Book Shop run by John Otto, according to the store’s online history. In 1905, Jack Roesgen began working at the store. He bought it from the Otto family in 1940. He died in 1958, and his daughter, Betsy Rider, and wife, Margaret Roesgen, took over.
Betsy and her husband, John Rider, kept the love for literature alive in Williamsport while raising ten children. Eight worked in the store. Their son, Tom, still does. He handles customer special orders and returns.
“Everything was set around the bookstore,” he said. “My mother was always reading at least one or two books each week.”
Betsy used to review books on the radio.
“Every week she'd have to talk about a new book,” he said.
He remembered leaving St. Joseph’s Catholic School and walking a few blocks to the store daily to work. He referred to it as “doing chores.” At age 13, he helped with sidewalk book sales.
Back then, Otto’s was where the Lycoming College Arts Museum is today at 24 W. 4th St. The business moved to the current location, 107 W. 4th, in the 1990s.
Today, the store is part of the 250-member North Atlantic Independent Bookstore Association, which supports bookstores through virtual training sessions, staff meet-ups and publicists
Otto’s has outlived many small bookstores. Small independent stores struggle with competition from big companies like Amazon, association director Eileen Dengler said. Despite surging rents, many independent bookstores are resurgent themselves.
“We've seen an increase in the number of bookstores opening in recent years. Many are using ‘novel’ models, such as bookmobiles, pop-up stores, etc., to provide their communities with literature,” Dengler said. “This business is a small margin retail operation and rents play a role in the success of a store or ability to open in some communities.”
Nassberg shares the mindset that independent stores have what corporations lack.
“One of the things that independent bookstores excel at is being a very intellectually nurturing third space for people to congregate, to meet and learn, to explore and to feel safe in that space doing it. It's not a judgmental one,” Nassberg said.
Otto’s wants more involvement with local businesses, schools and organizations so the store becomes a hub.
“I believe very strongly in the idea of local business, supporting the community and that's something we've done for a long time. But this year, we've really started to emphasize it, make it front and center,” Nassberg said. “When we have events, we make a big point to work with local stores, and promote them as community partners. I think a lot of that is helping to bring awareness.”
Otto’s works with educators to promote literacy and develops programs to provide books to kids, the kind of books they want to read, store manager John Shableski said.
In order to modernize, Otto’s has hosted more events such as midnight book releases and one centered around the popular children’s animated show, Bluey. More than 300 people attended.
“The combination of parents and kids was that the parents are into it as well. It's not like they were going oh, Barney is here and I'm going to come let my kid run loose. They all participated and there was barely room to move. It was a blast,” Shableski said.
Otto’s has lots of books of all genres, but books by local authors tend to sell well, including books by Dr. Marjorie Maddox Hafer, Lock Haven University professor.
“The Otto Bookstore was one of the first places my husband and I sought out when we married and moved to Williamsport in 1993. Of course, the book nerd that I am, I had visited the store previously. Once we moved, it became our bookstore and, later, our family’s bookstore!” Maddox Hafer said.
Maddox Hafer held several signings for her poetry books.
“Whenever I enter, I feel as if I’ve been invited over to someone’s home. I get to catch up with friends who work there, I often run into friends from Williamsport, and I am surrounded by books and all things bookish. What could be better?” Maddox Hafer said.
Otto's plans to hold more author events. It is a public relations opportunity for authors and the store itself.
“It gives them a chance to talk about their books, celebrate those things and teach them how to utilize these events,” Shableski said. “We have a better chance of success, finding the audience for the book that is specific to the genre they're writing in.”
Because Williamsport is close to major Mid-Atlantic cities, he wants Otto’s to take advantage of author tours.
“What we want to be able to do now is, own this opportunity as the oldest independent bookstore to make sure we're on their tour… We are so close to the major metros, where many of the authors live,” Shableski said.
Ruth Weaver’s daughter, Lisa Zagozewski, sums up the store’s existence.
“It has been very important in our community, because of the connections people that work there have with community members. You know, you went into Otto’s, and you knew that you'd see the same people that knew you and knew your taste in books,” Zagozewski said.
The Otto Bookstore is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
