Baldwin’s Book Barn is bursting with books
Life Dedicated to Books: Carol Rauch
Seven days a week, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, Carol Rauch works among the books and ghosts in a cavernous, centuries-old barn in West Chester. Rauch, 91, is the longtime manager of Baldwin’s Book Barn. Nestled in the Brandywine Valley, the former dairy barn and milking house may be the largest used book shop in America.Rauch, a cancer survivor, said working in the Book Barn keeps her young. Built in 1822 by Quakers Brinton and Sarah Darlington, the barn was converted to a bookshop in 1946 by William Baldwin and his wife Lilla. They sold used books and collectibles. With its country-shop feel, they called it, simply, the Barn.Soon, they converted the old milking house into a residence and, for many years, a country-store museu...
