Tesseract Books owner Kathy Engisch, center, celebrated the opening of her new store — former home of Epic Book Shop — with live music, tasty confections and edible accoutrement, as well as the dramatic ribbon-cutting with the classic large scissors. Holding the ribbon for Engisch’s cut are Mark Heise and Mayor Pam Conine. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
New dimensions for local bookstore
- Published: October 20, 2025
By El Mele
The long-lived Epic Book Shop in Yellow Springs ended its story last year, making way for its successor, Tesseract Books, which officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 232 Xenia Ave. last week.
The event marked the beginning of a new chapter in the narrative of a store that has served the village for more than 50 years.
The first chapter
Local resident Gail Lichtenfels graduated from high school in 1970 and began working at Epic Book Shop while it was still owned by Bob Devine. A few years later, in 1973, she bought the bookshop for $1,000.
“When I bought Epic, I wrote my goals for it in my journal,” Lichtenfels said. “The first one was to read every book, and nowhere did I mention making money. I lived frugally, but I was also the only bookstore within 20 miles. The next closest was in Dayton, and there was no [Interstate] 675 to get there.”
In the time she owned Epic, it had a few different homes. It started on Xenia Avenue, then moved to Dayton Street, where she said she raised her daughter, Hypatia.
Gail Lichtenfels reopened Epic Book Shop at 229 Xenia Ave. as a used bookstore in 2014 after closing the longtime Dayton Street bookstore in 2009 (News archive photo by Megan Bachman)
“It was a home away from home,” Lichtenfels said. “My favorite memory is when Hypatia was 3, and a man came into the shop. The two of them were talking, and he said, “‘I’m tired of Buddhism,’ and she responded with, ‘Well, could I show you something in yoga?’”
After closing for five years due to health issues, Lichtenfels reopened Epic in Kieth’s Alley behind the Emporium, where it took a turn as a used bookstore. A scholar of philosophy and classics, she hosted study groups on Eastern religion and Jungian philosophy and tailored her collection around those interests.
“What’s nice about small bookshops is there is often a substantial collection based on the owner’s interest and expertise,” Lichtenfels said.
In 2008, Lichtenfels was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that was considered incurable at the time. After undergoing treatment for 17 years, she is now in remission, thanks to CAR T-cell Therapy she received in August 2024. Low immunity is a side effect of the treatment, and Lichtenfels said continuously getting sick, along with competition from online seller Amazon, made it difficult to run the store, which by then had been reopened in its original location at 232 Xenia Ave.
Around the same time, Kathy Engisch reached out to learn about owning a bookshop.
“I understand Kathy’s desire,” Lichtenfels said. “There’s something beautiful about it. It’s her dream, and that’s a wonderful thing; it was my dream, too.”
After some thought, she offered her inventory and shelving to Engisch, and on April 1, Engisch took charge of the lease. Lichtenfels noted that it’s a hard time for small businesses — especially book stores — but she hopes Engisch will be successful.
“There are great success stories out there, and she’s fresh and definitely has a lot of good ideas,” she said. “I hope people really support her. She’s doing it from the heart.”
Lichtenfels is looking forward to the time retirement will give her to take care of herself and pursue her interests. She said she’s turned her focus toward recovering her health after selling the bookshop, with more time now to read, write and spend time with her daughter, who lives nearby — and even to revisit a long-shelved vampire novel that’s begun to take new shape.
“I’m trying to get accustomed to the idea that the page is empty, and what I put on it is up to me,” she said.
She continues to sell used books online under the name Epic Book Shop.
When asked what she wanted to say to readers, Lichtenfels responded: “Appreciate the fact that you have local bookstores and that they can get anything you want within a week. Why go to Amazon when you can get what you need right here?”
A new chapter
Kathy Engisch moved to Yellow Springs in 2006 to join the new Department of Neuroscience, Cell Biology and Physiology at Wright State University. She and her husband, Mark Rich, chose Yellow Springs because, she said: “We loved it even more when we visited for our house search; not just charming, but interesting! And the history of activism for peace and justice was also very appealing.”
In her 20-year career at Wright State, she taught medical students, then entered the administration and oversaw undergraduate education. Eventually, she developed the physiology and neuroscience major, and is now teaching in that department until she retires in December.
Tesseract Books owner Kathy Engisch cutting the ribbon. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Even as a high schooler, Engisch said, she wanted a job where she could express her love of literature and reading, but has always prioritized her other interests.
“As far back as my time as an undergraduate, I felt forced to choose between my love of literature and my love of science, and science won,” she said. “However, I took as many English classes as would fit in my chemistry major, which, unusually, was a BA instead of a BS. Now is my chance to come back to the books.”
Engisch said the idea of owning a bookshop first took root about a decade ago, when she spotted one for sale while on vacation — a passing dream that became real after her father’s death and the pandemic prompted her to stop putting off what she truly wanted to do. She started talking to book shop owners, including Lichtenfels.
“Gail was so open,” she said. “We talked for two hours about how the business runs, and what has worked and what hasn’t.”
Engisch said she hadn’t planned to compete with Epic Book Shop, but when Lichtenfels mentioned she might sell, Engisch realized how much she wanted the chance.
“I was checking my email every day, hoping to hear from her,” Engisch said.
Having bought Lichtenfels’ inventory, Engisch now carries a mix of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, spiritual and philosophy books, both new and used, along with science fiction and classic literature. The new name of the store, “Tesseract Books,” comes from Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time,” in which “tesseract” refers to a way of folding space and time to form a shortcut between two points, enabling instant travel across immense distances.
“I chose it because I like the sound of the word and I like the idea of traveling to another world, which is what reading is for me, especially reading science fiction,” Engisch said.
While this outlines her current selection, Engisch said she is eager to know what Yellow Springers are looking for in a local bookstore. She is open to suggestions for books, as well as other products. For example, she was able to obtain art prints and cards created by the late Nancy Howell Koehler, and will be featuring those in the store, along with other works on paper.
“I’m a scientist, and really what I plan on doing is running experiments to see what will sell,” she said.
She also wants to emphasize the importance of books and reading in the current political climate. Along with staff picks, the store will highlight banned books, and works aimed at young readers, like “A Wrinkle in Time” and “Watership Down,” which she said often go unrecognized as “rebellion books.”
“We’re so divided, and that needs to change,” she said. “You can get involved civically in different ways, like running for office or volunteering with different groups. For me, it’s giving people access to books.”
The staff of book-lovers at Tesseract includes Margo Daniels, Selah Griffin, Emma Robinow and Savannah Brantley. Engisch said she’s grateful for the help of her husband, Mark; daughter, Louisa; and friend Sam Eckenrode, former owner of Sam and Eddie’s Open Books.
Tesseract Books will be open Wednesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Tuesday, noon–5 p.m.; and Sunday, 1–5 p.m. For more information, go to http://www.tesseractbooks.com.
*The author is a student at Antioch College and a freelance writer for the YS News.
The Yellow Springs News encourages respectful discussion of this article.
You must login to post a comment.
Don't have a login? Register for a free YSNews.com account.
No comments yet for this article.