Turning a page at Sisters book shop

Paulina Springs Books has reopened, debuting the results of a weeklong renovation.

"Updating the flooring, stripping out all the old carpet and matching the flooring that we picked out for the space that we recently expanded into," said owner Lane Jacobson, referring to the store's western addition.

"We're now three quarters of the way done with remodeling the entire space, with new ceiling tiles, new paint, and new trim around the windows," he said.

The bookstore, established in 1992, has expanded to all four corners of a building that once housed four separate businesses. The recent expansion west preceded a new children's section in the northwest corner, renovated last spring. Now the store's main space is getting a facelift.

"This is kind of a tricky one because we usually move everything into another room and then close off that room, but this front room ... it is what it is. We needed to close and knock it out as fast as possible," Jacobsen said.  "We have a staff of nine and almost everybody has been involved at some point or another throughout the process."

The checkout counter was rebuilt and relocated closer to the front door, on the eastern wall. A custom-made greeting card wall will replace the store's spinning merchandise racks.

"We're working with a local cabinet maker out of Terrebonne called Big Rock Woodcraft, who's custom building everything. Some of it is modular; some of it is specific to every wonky corner in this building," Jacobson explained.

"For all the bookcases that we've replaced, we'll put out the call for whoever wants them. A lot of it will go to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, for displays."

Over the next few months, Paulina Springs Books plans to add all-new walnut fixtures, then extend the new flooring north of the main room, past where the old counter used to stand.

While the look is not finished cover-to-cover, Jacobson is writing a new chapter for the business he bought in 2018.

"By the end of this year, the whole thing will be done," Jacobson said.