I visited The Book Exchange on West Chapel Hill Street in Durham on the first day I was a graduate student at Duke in 1981. “Where should I buy books on our reading list?” I asked fellow grad student Chip Harkins. “The Book Ex,” he replied, and that’s where I went, on foot, from Duke’s Perkins Library.

Years later, when I was trying to teach myself Russian, I found The Book Ex to be a treasure trove of old, military Russian-language books. They were always the best, and I spent many afternoons up on the second floor finding the best ones.

Alas, The Book Ex is going out of business on Feb. 14, The News & Observer tells me. I haven’t been in there for a while, my kids having all left home and I no longer being in the Russian mood, but I hate to see it go. It was a truly unique experience, being able to shop for books without have to smell someone’s latte, I mean.

So long, Book Ex. You’ll be missed.