The first thing you notice walking into West Side Books is the smell. It’s a good smell. It’s the smell of older books, stirring up memories of entering a small-town library where the head librarian knew your name and what you liked to read.

Customers of West Side Books in Denver’s Highland neighborhood know that feeling. Longtime visitors to the store at 3434 W. 32nd Ave. talk about owner Lois Harvey and the staff as friends who are ready to recommend new titles and guide them through the overflowing shelves of new and old books that one person likened to a treasure hunt. The store also sells rare books.

The yellow arrows on the floor pointing the way to the exit are handy.

“I look around and I go, ‘Oh, there’s a book I didn’t realize that I needed,’ ” said Michael Hester, who lives on

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