One of Toronto's oldest bookstores has cats guarding the books

If you love digging for rare finds, Acadia Bookstore in Toronto's Moss Park neighbourhood is the ultimate literary treasure chest just waiting to be scoured. Stick around long enough, and you might make friends with a couple of shop cats who seem just as smitten with storytelling magic as the customers themselves.

Books dating back as far as the 1800s are crammed into every nook and cranny within the two-storey shop, which happens to be one of Oscar-wining director Guillermo del Toro's favourite in the city.

Unlike the paperbacks you'd expect at a big-box chain, Acadia carves its own niche with antiquarian books, rare 17th-century prints, vintage maps and postcards, and a large collection of original artwork from famous artists like Picasso. Now, how many people can say they bought a Picasso, much less in Toronto?

Co-owners Rochelle and Carlos Galdamez have been at the helm of the bookstore for well over a decade now.

The bookstore — one of the oldest in Toronto — first opened in 1931 under the name Jack's Bookstore, before Rochelle's father took over in 1957. He had no prior knowledge of running a bookstore. 

"It was just this old-fashioned kind of neighbourhood bookstore with comic books and the Harlequin romance [novels]," she tells blogTO, before it shifted its focus to out-of-print books. Interestingly enough, there was even a moment, she explains, when her father toyed with the idea of turning the shop into a totally different business.

But, to the delight of both locals and visitors from afar, Acadia ultimately stayed on course, continuing to sell the rare and unusual finds it is known for today.

While Rochelle is extremely polite and friendly with customers who come in and browse the shelves, she is shy and reserved in the sense that she kindly requested not to be photographed or have her full name in print. 

Situated on Queen East near Jarvis Street, Acadia isn't exactly in an area rich with bookstores.

"It's kind of an out-of-the-way location," Rochelle admits. The city is chock full of unique bookstores, but a lot of them (Hopeless Romantic Books, Type Books, Flying Books at Neverland, et al) are found within walking distance on Queen West.

"I think that's why [my father] specialized in art books and rare books, so that people would make a special trip here."

According to Rochelle, the shop gets an "eclectic mix" of customers ranging from old book collectors looking for, say, a rare edition three-volume set of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, to millennial artists looking to learn about Leonor Fini or Joseph Cornell.

Books, Rochelle says, are like works of art. Older editions in particular were made with a level of care that shows in everything from the binding and colour illustrations to the endpapers. To her, they feel like a kind of quiet resistance to the generic, beautiful and highly crafted objects that are not really produced in the same way anymore. 

"We get calls from serious collectors, and those books are not easy to get. Some books you only see maybe once every 20 years, or some you never see again," she says, which is why shopping at Acadia is so exciting for bibliophiles.

Beyond being a depository of history, the shop is somewhat of a quiet cat sanctuary. It houses two indoor cats, Pippen and Frodo, who wander between shelves like whiskered custodians of literature — a nod to Tolkien, who, the owners seem to love unconditionally.

Frodo enjoys being petted by customers.

Brothers Pippen and Frodo have quietly become a bit of a social media sensation, with Toronto residents and folks discovering the shop and inevitably gushing over the six-year-old cats.

Rochelle sees it as a kind of free marketing.

Pippen enjoys newspapers.

"Social media has really changed the way people find things. We don't advertise — the cats do it for us." Though she's not much of an online person, she says a number of friends have told her about the TikToks and Instagram Reels promoting the store and its cats.

While Rochelle and Carlos turn the page and head home after each shift, Pippen and Frodo remain in the shop, complete with food, water, toys, and their own private corner. After all, someone must keep watch over all the books, much like the faithful members of the Fellowship.

Acadia Bookstore is located at 232 Queen St. E.