Book Nooky is latest offering at The Electric Company

Since Patti Siehien and Al DeWeese purchased and renovated the old electric company building on Depot Street, they’ve looked for creative ways to fill the building with businesses.

John Barnhart

Patti Siehien with a shelf of books at the Book Nooky.

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    Siehien’s latest is called the Book Nooky. It’s located in the basement and reached from stairs through the Artisan Cafe. The access through that cafe means that customers can pick up coffee and a treat at the cafe and come down and relax. There’s a gas log fire place, for warmth, and a WiFi. There’s also a children’s area with a child-size table and child-size chairs.
    “We’re the only one in town that specializes in kids,” Siehien said.
    The shop features both new and used books, with nothing costing more than $20. All paperbacks cost a dollar.
    “We have some collector books,” she said.
    All the books in the children’s section, however, are new.
    The walls are decorated with local art, which will be rotated on a regular basis. If you see something you like, you can buy it as all the art is for sale.
    “Everything is for sale,” Siehien said.
    Well, not everything.
    “My dog upstairs, she’s not for sale,” Siehien said.
    One of her four dogs was in for grooming at The Paw Wash, a dog grooming business located in another portion of the building.
    Siehien said that she has a large number of history books, and books about herbs and gardening.
    Art is Siehien’s passion, so the Book Nooky has a large section of art books. It also stocks something she calls “re-art.” Local artists bring in art supplies that they are not using and the Book Nooky sells them cheaply.
    Art on Depot features art classes as well as artists, so one wall has a bulletin board where notices of art classes will be posted. Siehien also plans an additional board for general community notices.
    Siehien is an artist. Her father, Walter Siehien, also an artist, got her interested when she was a child. She does painting and pottery and her pottery studio adjoins the Book Nooky, so people who stop in for coffee and a book could also catch her at work.
    The Book Nooky first opened on Jan. 4 and is open from Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
    The Electric Company’s building dates back to the 1890s and was originally built to house the generator for the city’s power system. If you stand at the door of the Artisan Cafe and look up, to your right, you can see the conduits that carried power lines to the city a century ago. City power company memorabilia is on display inside.