TO OUR BOOK-LOVING FRIENDS

In 2012, longtime Berkshire bookstore owner Eric Wilska purchased the
property on Depot Street in West Stockbridge comprising both the building
that now houses Shaker Mill Books, and the adjacent Shaker Gristmill, long
a beloved local historic landmark.

The culmination of Eric’s decades of bookselling (he founded The Bookloft
in Great Barrington and owned it for 42 years), Shaker Mill Books is his
“retirement” dream and now boasts an eclectic collection of over 30,000
books: used, rare, antiquarian, out-of-print and some new. While there are
books for every interest (including a large children’s section), the shop’s
selections of photography and art books, as well as local history titles, are
particularly noteworthy.

Next door, the rustic and sprawling Shaker Mill has evolved from a
convenient storage place for not-yet-shelved books into a wonder-filled
display space that almost defies description. You’ll find dazzling oversize
books that don’t easily fit on the shelves and tables at Shaker Mill Books...
exquisitely bound or illustrated books of ordinary size that might be
overlooked on a crowded bookshelf elsewhere... whimsical literary
displays (e.g. Eric’s typewriter collection, which children are encouraged to
experiment with)... book-related art... and art made from books (local artist
Deb Carter’s magnificent gown, The Read Dress, created with countless
pages from The Oxford English Dictionary, always elicits gasps of wonder).

The sales counter itself is a work of art, designed and built entirely with
books by Eric’s son-in-law Anthony D’aniello. On summer weekends,
master bookbinder Ken Gilbert demonstrates his fine work for visitors.