One of the few independent book stores left in Carroll County is closing June 16, owner Frank Spruill told Patch Monday.

The Little Professor Book Store, which opened in 1977 and is now located at the Liberty Station Shopping Center on Liberty Road in Eldersburg, closes its doors the day before Father’s Day.  The store had endured five tough years in a struggling economy, said Spruill, a Catonsville resident.

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Inventory is being sold at 60 percent off and there’s still a lot of it left, Spruill said.

“When the economy tanked, it tanked for us, too,” he said. “It didn’t help a whole lot for the government talking like it wanted to fire all the federal workers. This is a federal bedroom community.

“People aren’t spending money as much as they used to; they are afraid to,” he added. “I would rather we weren’t doing it, but when you look at the bottom line, there it is, staring at you. You don’t have a whole lot of choice. You take what the world gives you, and that’s what you’ve got.”

The closing of The Little Professor Book Store follows the closings of other book stores in Carroll County, including Locust Books in Westminster and Waldenbooks last year in TownMall, according to the Baltimore Sun.

"It is very sad to see another small business go. It kind of goes against (the idea to) shop locally," Debbie Schuller, owner of A Likely Story in Sykesville, told the Sun.

Spruill said he chose to open an independent bookstore in the 1970s as part of a goal to go into business for himself. He considered a variety of options, such as fast food and auto transmission, and settled on books, he said.

“Books were nice and clean; it was a no brainer,” he said. “Book readers, book buyers are very, very nice people.

“It’s been a good time. I’ve enjoyed all the customers and I thank ‘em all.”

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