PORT GAMBLE —  When walking into a used bookstore, one often thinks of endless walls of well-loved books that have a musty smell, reminding shoppers that books can still be enjoyed, despite their many travels between hands and shelves.

However, Lyn Playle, owner of The Dauntless … More Than a Bookstore, turns up her nose at the idea of a bookstore having that ancient stench.

“Musty is not good, musty is mold,” she said.

Her store is full of clean, dust-free shelves, most of them handcrafted by a friend. The smell of fresh paint and new carpet lingers from the recent renovation of the historic Port Gamble home, House 20, and the large windows on the first floor allow ample amounts of light to explore the floor-to-ceiling shelves of used books.

Playle has two rooms filled with selections, which include fiction, non-fiction, mystery, classics and children’s books. The children’s area is set up for even the youngest readers to be able to pull a book from the shelf and curl up for a read under a window.

And just like Harry Potter in the popular series of the same name, she has a cupboard under the stairs that is the perfect space for two small children who want to do explore the pages of gently-used books. It was just a dark closet when Playle first started renovating the house, but now it’s a clean and cozy area filled with cushy pillows for lounging. Aside from her two rooms of books, she also has a “media” room, where there is Internet access for customers, two chairs and a couch and art work on display and for sale from local artists. She also sells old vinyl records and has a record player so customers can listen to them before purchasing.

Aside from the bookstore in the house, Playle has converted a small red shed on her property into a children’s bookhouse where she holds her Saturday afternoon craft and story hours and sells new children’s books. During the Saturday events, she likens herself to a children’s librarian, which is not a problem for her, given she was a library media specialist at grade schools in South Seattle. Previous careers have also included working at the library at Highline Community College.

She fell in love with Port Gamble about five years ago and watched it grow before proposing the idea to the town owners, who in turn asked her to come to the community. It was a dream come true for her, as she has always wanted to open a bookstore, but never did anything about it until now.

“It was just nice,” Playle said. “There was never a ‘no,’ it just kind of proceeded. The dream part is that I’m here and doing it.”

While she has the knowledge of maintaining and stocking the shelves, she is still learning about running a business.

Customers’ requests change often, but she has found that people who have lived in the area for a long time tend to want books on shipping, golfing and old logging company histories. After working in an academic library at Highline, where she dealt with a variety of topics, such as religion, international languages and other multi-cultural topics, people in Kitsap tend to ask for more literature and non-fiction.

“Here, there is not the need or desire for it,” she said. “It’s interesting. So I’m learning what not to stock.”

She also hopes to start up a door-to-door bookmobile delivery service in the fall, to places such as Port Ludlow and Port Hadlock.

“If there is a desire for that because people come from all around,” she said.

Playle didn’t want to compare herself to other bookstores, but she knows what she wants out of her own business.

“I’d like people to feel welcome and comfortable here and just a place they can hang out,” she said.