A student-operated project by University High School students opened downtown last night to coincide with the grand opening of Ben’s Bells 2nd studio at 40 W. Broadway (between Church Ave. and Stone Ave.)

The idea to collect used books and re-sell them at a used bookstore was spearheaded by UHS Legacy Club President Nicole Urman, assisted by Vice President Yurika Isoe. Nicole informed us last night that “Tucson’s literacy rate is at an astonishing 20%”, and this was the high school “students’ way to give back to the community”.

Several hundred books are now for sale in categories of adult, teen, children, non-fiction, plus magazines.

Store hours are on weekends — Saturdays & Sundays, 9 to 5 p.m. Drop by and check out their selections and talk with the student volunteers. All profits go to Literacy Volunteers of Tucson.

More information on UHS which is a top ranked school in the nation (click here). UHS Legacy Club email is uhslegacy@gmail.com.

This bookstore (and Ben’s Bells) is in the 1868 Charles O. Brown House, one of the oldest buildings left in downtown Tucson. Mr. Brown was apparently the proprietor of the Congress Hall Saloon, a popular meeting hall for territorial legislators. The UHS students have a B/W portrait of Brown on the mantle of the fireplace in their bookstore.

The only other used bookstore downtown is located in the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, which I wrote about previously (click here), only open weekdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at 7:27 am and is filed under Education, Life. Tags for this post: Ben's Bells downtown, Charles O. Brown house, Congress Hall Saloon, Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Literacy Volunteers of Tucson, Nicole Urman, UHS Legacy Club, University High School, Yurika Isoe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.