ORANGE — Are you making a New Year’s resolution to read more? If so, you’re in luck.

The Book Forge at 3 South Main St. has a grand opening scheduled for Jan. 1, and owner Tyler Hauth is putting the finishing touches on the roughly 2,000-square-foot space he purchased about 10 months ago.

“I thought it would be fun, because not many stores are open New Year’s Day,” he said this week. “So I figured, ‘Why not that day?’ It’s a little unorthodox.”

Hauth said he will carry at least 1,500 used books and at least the same number of new books from Ingram Content Group, which offers independent bookstore services.

“Something we have that other people don’t have — 1,300 vintage, out-of-print fantasy, science fiction and horror books,” he said. “Everybody’s really excited and helpful. I have people volunteering to come and help alphabetize — I have to alphabetize 1,300 books right now. I have people asking to buy gift cards even though we’re not even open.”

Hauth said The Book Forge will at first be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, to help him figure out a more permanent schedule when customers are most apt to stop by. He will be the store’s lone employee for the foreseeable future. The space was most recently the home to Tech 1 Computers, which has moved to Athol.

“We put in a brand-new ceiling. They had a drop ceiling in here,” Hauth said. “All new lights. All new floor. New paint. So, basically, [we] remodeled it.”

He also commissioned Joey Burr, of BurrstingStudioz, to craft a mural of a bookshelf outside his shop. The work, to the left of the front door, includes well-known titles such as “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” “The Hobbit” and “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

Hauth is also a book publisher and an author of southern horror, science fiction and fantasy novels. His next book, “The Dog War,” is slated to be published in 2025. He teaches creative writing at Emerson College, where he is also earning a master’s degree in that field. The 29-year-old moved to Orange from Arkansas with his wife and two children about three years ago, when he was accepted to Emerson.

Hauth said he has had a good experience dealing with the town for permitting, though this venture has not been without adversity — an intoxicated driver careened through the front door at the end of March, shortly after he bought the space. However, the driver’s insurance covered the $30,000 in damage.

More information about Hauth’s publishing company, Book Forge Press, is available at bookforgepress.com. Hauth also maintains a Facebook page for the publishing company and the bookstore.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-930-4120.