Oswego bookstore gives new life to old books

OSWEGO, NY — Hidden away on East Utica Street is a store filled with stories. Time and Again Books and Tea just celebrated 17 years since its opening.

Deborah Engelke opened up the store in 2000 with the encouragement of her husband and after spending three years trying to find a job with her Masters degree in English.

Since then, Engelke has collected over 1,700 books.

“We use to buy a lot more common paperbacks, easy reading books that people will read on their phones or listen to, so we’re more into scholarly materials,” Engelke said.

The way Engelke and her husband have found and collected all these books over the past 17 years is a story itself.

“I started to hit estate sales, garage sales, so for about 6 months we were on the road a lot. We have traveled to Canada, down to Virginia, in through Pennsylvania, New England, a lot in New York State because it’s a lot less gas if you’re local,” she said.

Regardless of what kind of book you are looking for, Engelke says there is something here for everyone.

“We found that even 4 year old textbooks sell. The savvy student has figured out that instead of paying 200 bucks they can get a 4 year old textbook for 30 bucks,” she said.

Time and Again Books and Tea is located on 18 E Utica Street Oswego. The bookstore is open Monday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.