E-Mail This Article to a Friend BIBLIOFILE The end of the Avenue BY CHRIS WRIGHT

For nearly 30 years, the Avenue Victor Hugo Bookshop has been selling used and rare books in Boston. On June 1, the store will close its doors for the last time. Owner Vince McCaffrey tells his story.

We’re pretty resourceful here; we’ve survived three recessions. We couldn’t survive because things have changed. Keeping open an old-fashioned bookstore is just not manageable anymore. Why sweat bullets over something that’s not important to people? Book lovers care, but they’re in a very small minority. It’s incredible, right now there are people who literally get everything they know from television. Peter Jennings is the source of their wisdom.

I don’t know what to do, I really don’t. I’m out of touch. I don’t have that much to do with my own culture anymore. I’m going to retreat into the digital universe and hopefully survive there. I’ll be selling books on a Web site. I don’t have any money. I can’t open another bookstore. It sounds uppity, but I’m not interested in opening some shabby little shop on a side street where no one comes.

The customers are bummed, to use the correct lingo. They wonder what’s going to happen to them. We’ve been on their route for years, and suddenly we won’t be here anymore. I’m also depressed. I tried as hard as I could, but I know I failed because of my own inadequacies. I’m angry at myself for not being smart enough, quick enough. It’s my job as manager of the store to find a way to deal with problems, and I haven’t been able to. But we’ll live through this. I’m Irish. I’m okay with wakes.

I don’t have regrets. I can’t believe I was fortunate enough to do this. People in retail will tell you that the customer is a pain in the neck. It’s true, but in book-selling the relationship between the bookseller and the customer is the fun of the job. These are people you get to know very well because you know their reading habits. And I love books. I have in front of me a book on the history of signboards. It was published in 1868. Think about that. I’ve had this book a dozen times over the years. Why would any human being encounter a book on signboards? Being in a position to earn a living, to be exposed to this, is unique and kind of special. I’m lucky.

Avenue Victor Hugo’s stock is currently on sale at 50 percent off. The store is located at 353 Newbury Street, in Boston. Call (617) 266-7746, or visit www.avenuevictorhugobooks.com.