By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — Adding to already fertile creative ground, a bookstore has now joined the mix of artisans, hip retailers and urban dwellers who make Hope Artiste Village their home.

Book By Book, a purveyor of used tomes, opened on April 1 in the Hope Artiste complex at 1005 Main St. Owner Rick Ring, a librarian at the Providence Public Library, had long been thinking of opening a used book store modeled after the successful Half-Price Books chain.
A Cranston resident, Ring and his wife, Cristin Goff, said they had been searching for the right space in the Cranston and Providence area, but found rents and property taxes too high. After reading about retail space available at Hope Artiste Village on the Internet listing “Craigslist,” he decided to check it out.
“Pawtucket was very attractive. It was the competitive rate, for one thing. But, when we went to look at the space, we fell in love with it immediately. It seems like its going to take off,” said Ring.
Ring added that with the various other retailers located in the complex, and plans for an upcoming dinner theatre venue and additional shops, he is excited about the concept of an arts community. “There’s a great synergy here now,” he stated.
Book By Book features general fiction and non-fiction book titles. Ring said his aim is to have the shop “feel like a Borders, but with prices far lower.” The store is open from Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. Ring has hired Eric Smith, a freelance writer and fellow book lover, as his daytime store manager, and he runs the shop during the evening shift after ending his day as a librarian.
Ring primarily gets his inventory by purchasing it from people who bring in cartons of books they have read or no longer want. He will look over the selection and make an offer, and the books are then marked up for re-sale in the store.
Ring, originally from Ohio, formerly worked at the Dallas,Texas-based Half-Price Books, reportedly the largest used bookstore chain in the country. After moving to Rhode Island, he spent nine years in a job that involved purchasing rare books for Brown University’s John Carter Brown. As such, he said he has learned “both the low-end and high-end of the trade,” he said.
When making an offer to buy books from someone, he said there are several marketing factors that go into his decision, such as the popularity of a title, if he has more than one of a book, or if the book is unique or valuable. “There is no real formula. It’s done on a case by case basis,” he said. “We will make an offer on anything. Just no magazines,” said Ring.
He said he welcomes people to bring in their discards and won’t rule out any type of book for consideration. He said that he typically gets back to the seller with an offer within 48 hours. “It’s a great service for people who want to clean out their parents’ attic, or who just want to offload some of their own stuff,” said Ring.
Currently, Ring has a large collection of art books that he recently acquired. He said, however, that the focus of Book By Book is more on popular titles, rather than the antiquarian trade. He plans to have his shelves eventually stocked with some 15,000 books for customers to choose from.
“I’ll always be buying books and my inventory will always be changing,” said Ring. “It’s never a problem getting books.”