LEBANON — Dozens of people gathered in the book room at Listen’s Miracle Mile Thrift Store, while more waited outside the store holding tight to reusable bags in Friday morning’s cold air.

Dorothy Syme made her way to the front of the crowd inside to officially open the new space by cutting a bright red holiday ribbon edged in gold. The well-lit space features at least a couple thousand books carefully organized into a variety of genres.

“Look at this,” Syme, of Hanover, said, an expression of awe on her face.

Awe was a sentiment expressed by the volunteers, employees and community members alike who gathered to dedicate a plaque for The Linda Douville Book Nook, so named for the Grantham resident who has been leading book volunteers at Listen’s Lebanon location for more than six years. The nonprofit organization also operates thrift stores in White River Junction and Canaan. Proceeds from sales benefit a variety of programs including community dinners, a food pantry, fuel assistance and summer camp scholarships.

One of those volunteers was Dorothy Syme’s late husband, Duncan, who assembled and built bookshelves for the books carefully sorted by other volunteers. He died in May. The new plaque includes the inscription “In Fond Memory of Duncan Syme.”

It also reads: “A Dream Realized.”

“Today is a day of gratitude,” Douville said at the start of the ceremony, which took place before Listen’s third annual Book Event — a popular sale where additional books are displayed for people to purchase — began. She spoke in appreciation of the dozen regular volunteers who evaluate, sort and place books on the shelf. She spoke of the Listen staff who helped assemble the new wooden bookcases and enthusiasm about how many more books they will sell.

Most books cost $1. Some are priced separately, usually no higher than $10, Douville said.

There’s also a separate glass case for rare and vintage books. Miracle Mile sells around $10,000 in books each month, which amounts to roughly 5% of the store’s revenue, according to numbers provided by Kristi Lenart-Rikert, Listen’s interim executive director.

“Anytime I come through here there’s a ton of people just browsing,” Lenart-Rikert, of Sharon, said. By selling more books, Listen can help divert them from landfills, which is in line with the nonprofit’s commitment to sustainability. Listen also works with other community organizations to find homes for books.

“It’s so good to keep the paper (books) alive; to keep it going,” Rikert added.

When Listen’s Miracle Mile location first opened in 2018, the book display was almost an afterthought. Books were kept in bins, Dorothy Syme recalled in a phone interview earlier this week.

“It would kill your back,” to look through them she said. The shelves that did exist weren’t that well organized.

Then Douville, Duncan Syme and a growing group of volunteers decided to do something about it.

“The whole thing has blossomed into this incredible effort,” Dorothy Syme said.

Slowly but surely, volunteers started organizing books by category and adding shelves.

Volunteers were given more space to display books, more than doubling the shelves they started out with. Books are now divided into categories and subcategories with some popular authors — including novelists Jodi Picoult and Kristin Hannah — getting their own dedicated spaces. Cookbooks, romance, history and fiction are the top-selling categories.

“We have more space to really display what we have which is nice,” Douville said.

The book room is in the back of the building, somewhat separate from the rest of the store’s offerings. Its location and new look give it the feel of a bookstore.

“It’s going to be quieter space to think about what you want,” Douville said.

On Friday, Douville spoke about Duncan Syme, who at his wife’s urging put his carpentry skills to use at Listen.

“All that in there is because of Duncan,” Douville said, pointing to a set of shelves. “He did it all.”

The credit for creating the new space is shared. West Windsor resident Angela Livingston, like other volunteers and staff, spoke fondly about Douville. “I can’t imagine it being run by someone else. She does a fantastic job.”

Livingston has volunteered sorting books for a few hours nearly every week for a year.

“I tell my husband I’m going to play with books,” she said.

At about 9 a.m. Friday, Listen opened its doors and the dozens of people standing outside filtered into the Book Nook. Volunteers and staff handed them plastic baskets to use to carry their purchases. A third room was temporarily filled with books as part of the sale and cardboard boxes turned on their sides served as temporary shelves.

Leona Wallace has attended every Book Event and regularly buys books from Listen. On Friday morning, she was on the hunt for books by John Marrs, Lucinda Berry and Mia Sheridan.

“I’m fascinated with what they’ve done,” Wallace, of Canaan, said of the new space.

Will it encourage her to buy more books? “Oh, yeah,” she said enthusiastically.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.