ALBERTON — While Alberton is the gateway west to Mineral County, the Montana Valley Book Store with over 100,000 titles is the gateway to increase literacy for the small town and beyond.
"My six year old grandson, Jordan, when he sounded out his first word and realized he had read the word, he clapped his hands together and said, 'Grandma, I'm reading'," Shop Owner and Caretaker Keren Wolhart said.
A love of books runs in the family for Wolhart.
"You see that light come on and you see it continue to build and then the whole world, the phrase the world's your oyster, it's there because he can read and discern information himself," she said.
Wolhart's parents opened the Montana Valley Book Store in 1978. Since then, they've been seeing books come in and out of their doors for decades.
"Just a wealth of knowledge in here because I have so many different subjects. I have a basement full of paperbacks, so there's virtually everything, every kind of book in here," Wolhart said.
For young readers in Alberton, getting hands on anything from novels to poetry opens new chapters.
"I let local kids borrow books and I tell them don't tell everybody you can borrow the books," Wolhart said. "How could I not share what I have here with the local kids?"
She believes sitting down with a book brings a needed, tactile experience in a digital age.
"You've got the sense and the feel of a book, you hear the sound of the pages turning left, right, top, bottom of the page, page numbers, all of that stimulates your brain activity," she said.
For generations to come, Wolhart wants to keep books accessible in Alberton and for those stopping in from their travels on I-90.
"I'm not moving. Where would I go that I love any more than this," she said.
