Lehigh Valley Marketplace

By Kathryn Finegan Clark

This year, on Dec.13, Charles Dickens’ great-great grandson, Gerald Charles Dickens, will read “A Christmas Carol” at Bethlehem’s Moravian Book Shop on Main Street.

The actor plays the roles of 26 characters during his dramatic presentation of the 1843 English classic, and after his performance, he’ll sign Dickens books.

Moravian Book Shop has not only survived but thrived for more than 260 years

The shop stocks handsome illustrated hard-backed versions of the literary masterpiece. Also for sale will be Carolers from Byers’ Choice Ltd., a Bucks County company that designs the collectible figurines.

In October this year, the book shop launched Historic Haunts, hour-long ghostly candlelight walking tours based on “Bethlehem Ghosts,” a book written by Katherine Ramsland and Dana DeVito, manager of the shop.

Strategic marketing seen in these types of programs is one of the reasons the Moravian Book Shop has not only survived but thrived for more than 260 years. Diversity of products is also a huge factor. The fact that it is an independent book store means it also offers many unique books not offered by larger retailers.

Diversity also is key to its other products, such as fine giftware, home accents and the gorgeous Moravian stars which seem never to go out of style. DeVito says all of the stars featured in the shop are either made by local craftsmen or at least made in America.

The Moravian Book Shop, founded in 1745, was already approaching its 70th year when Dickens wrote his enduring Christmas story. It is the oldest continuously operating book store in the country. “We’ve documented that,” said DeVito, store manager, “and we believe it may even be the oldest in the world.”

The store has its roots in the Moravians’ deep regard for education. The idea was planted by Bishop Augustus Spangenberg, leader of the Bethlehem congregation. Seeing a need for books, he advised Samuel Powell, keeper of the Bethlehem Inn (later Crown Inn) to begin importing and distributing books.

Powell bought books from Moravian publishers in Germany and England, and within a decade the inventory had grown to 5,000 titles—primarily religious works, hymnals and sheet music and grammar, history, geography and Latin books for Moravian schools.

The book shop has remained tied to the church, which always handled its finances, absorbing its losses in troubled economic times and taking profits in prosperous times. Even today corporate proceeds go to the Pension Fund for Ministers of the Northern Province of the Moravian Church.

In the late 1800s, one bookseller saw the store as more than an arm of the church, a harbinger of future changes. He advertised poetry, novels, histories, sheet music, diaries, games and sporting equipment, magazines, eyeglasses and lunch boxes. He also added a circulating library and even opened a branch store.

The book shop moved to its present site in the heart of Bethlehem’s historic district in 1868, and after repeated expansions, now occupies four buildings. Bethlehem, of course, is a tourist destination, but the Moravian Book Shop has become a destination all its own.

DeVito has worked in the store for about 10 years, hired first as a part-time Christmas season employee and moving up to her present job. Filled with enthusiasm, she says she has always loved anything to do with books–the feel, the smell, the colorful selections neatly shelved. She employs three book buyers as well as a giftware buyer. A small staff works throughout the year–and then swells to a hefty group of full-time and part-time workers during the holidays. And it’s a loyal crowd–many workers have been at the shop for up to 25 years.

The shop also offers a continuous series of community activities, such as children’s story times, book clubs and book signings for local authors that draw customers through the doors. In addition to books and giftware, cozy rooms are filled with Bethlehem and Moravian specialties, home accessories, year-round Christmas decorations, a culinary department and a card and stationery shop. The Gourmet Deli offers a coffee bar and free WiFi Internet service. It eases this wonderful old store right into the 21st Century while retaining its antique ambience.

Kathryn Finegan Clark is a National Press Club Award winner and former senior editor for a national business magazine. She also writes the “Because You Live Here” department.