Every good vacation town needs a great bookstore, and Wilmington has one of the best small-town bookshops in Vermont. Bartleby’s Books has been a fixture on Main Street since 1989 – over 35 years of curated shelves, knowledgeable staff, and the kind of browsing experience that Amazon can’t replicate.
A Bookstore with a Story
Named after Herman Melville’s famous short story, Bartleby’s is housed in a 175-year-old carriage house at 17 West Main Street. The building alone is worth the visit – old wooden bones with warm lighting, bookshelves that reach the ceiling, and the kind of atmosphere that makes you want to slow down and read.
The shop spans two floors. Downstairs you’ll find new releases, fiction, mystery, poetry, and a well-stocked children’s section. Upstairs is nonfiction – cooking, gardening, design, architecture, history – plus a discount section for deals. There are comfortable chairs and couches scattered throughout, and the staff actively encourages lingering.
What Makes It Special
This isn’t a bookstore that stocks whatever the algorithms push. The selection is hand-curated by people who actually read. The Staff Picks section is reliably excellent, they carry the Indie Next List and Kids’ Indie Next List, and they maintain a dedicated banned books display.
Vermont titles and Vermont authors get prominent placement, which makes it a great place to pick up something that connects you to the region. They’ll special-order anything not in stock, and they sell signed copies when available.
Beyond books, Bartleby’s carries a thoughtful selection of cards, literary gifts, games, and local crafts – the kind of things that make better souvenirs than a logo t-shirt.
A Resilient History
Bartleby’s has survived more than most businesses. In April 2011, owner Lisa Sullivan’s sister store in Brattleboro was destroyed in a five-alarm fire – roughly $250,000 in inventory, gone. Four months later, Tropical Storm Irene sent four feet of floodwater through the Wilmington shop, destroying another $300,000 in stock. By Black Friday that same year, Bartleby’s had reopened. That kind of tenacity tells you something about the people who run this place.
Good to Know
📍 17 West Main Street, Wilmington, VT 05363
🕐 Open daily 10am-6pm (Wednesday until 5pm)
📞 (802) 464-5425
Bartleby’s is right in the heart of downtown Wilmington, steps from Village Roost Cafe, 1836 Country Store, and the rest of Wilmington’s Main Street shops. It’s about 12-15 minutes from Valley View Villa and a perfect stop on a rainy day or as part of a Wilmington day trip.
If you’re traveling with kids, the children’s section is genuinely good – not an afterthought. And if you’re traveling without kids, well, that just means more time in the nonfiction loft.
