The Open Books project has helped children and adults alike get in touch with their literary sides for more than three years. The program is now starting a new chapter — bargains.

Last weekend, the nonprofit venture opened a new bookstore in River North. The store, at 213 W. Institute Place, features an inventory of more than 50,000 generously priced tomes, all of which have been donated to the group.

“What book lover hasn’t always wanted to run a used book store?” asked executive director Stacy Ratner, as she watched customers peruse the shelves on Sunday.

Ratner, who is also the founder of Open Books, is hoping that revenues generated by the store will cover a significant piece of funding for the group’s literacy endeavors, which range from in-school reading programs to adult creative writing courses. The store will serve as a literacy center for programs that were previously housed in schools and at the group’s offices upstairs.

The store’s selection and atmosphere caters to readers of all sizes. Comfortable plush sofas invite readers to stop and enjoy their finds, and the environment is intentionally kid-friendly, from the volunteer reading stage to the graffiti-adorned chalkboard walls of the bathroom.

“Children are maybe the most avid readers we have,” Ratner said.

“When you’re a little kid, it’s maybe not so much about the story than it is that someone is sitting down and reading it with you,” she said, “and so reading is an important thing that makes you special.”

Perhaps the most inviting thing about the Open Books store is the prices. Most of the books average around $5, and browsers would be hard-pressed to find an item in the double digits.

Before the opening, the group had been selling some of the books online.

Self-proclaimed bookaholic Lory Maltby travelled from Forest Park to check out the deals and donate a few books from home.

“I read everything from women’s issues to cheap mysteries,” she said, “so I’m here with an open mind.”

The store had been in the works for a long time. It is a product of Ratner’s deep love of books.

“Books were critical to me the whole time I was growing up,” said Ratner, who was raised in the north suburbs of Chicago. Her parents, both teachers, had an extensive library in the house, and no television.

Ratner learned to read at any early age, and often escaped into a good book while travelling with her parents on vacation and business. Her favorites included The Little Prince, Just So Stories and The Phantom Toll Booth.

Her love for literature carried over into her adult life, and Ratner started the Open Books program in 2006, taking in donated books and organizing volunteer-based literacy programs from her home in the South Loop.

Inspiration for the program was spurred by what Ratner saw as alarming illiteracy rates in the city. Approximately 53 percent of adults in Chicago have low or limited literacy skills, and 20 percent of all adults read at or below the 5th grade level, according to studies from Literacy Chicago.

Data also shows that children suffer from parents with low reading abilities. Those with parents who lack a high school education are five times more likely to drop out of school themselves.

After gaining status as a nonprofit, the group’s first project was Open Books Buddies, a one-on-one reading program at Schiller Elementary. Within a year, the program had expanded to nine other schools throughout the city. By then, Ratner had also started VWrite and WeWrite, writing programs for high school students and adults, respectively.

Ratner intentionally branched out into low-income neighborhoods to address what she saw as a growing need for the programs.

“One of the major misconceptions about illiteracy is that it’s a function of laziness and low-intelligence, which isn’t true,” she said. “Illiteracy is hugely a function of poverty.”

The adult programs were also started in the hopes of cutting off illiteracy at the source.

“If you can’t read, your kids are probably going to have trouble reading and so on down the line,” she said.

At the far end of the store on Sunday, a volunteer read a book about dogs to a group of engaged kids.

Uptown resident Gordon Wright was among the ring of parents making up the perimeter of the audience.

“Places like this are infinitely comforting,” said Wright, who brought his one-year-old son, Jonah, to the reading.

As a parent, Wright said that programs like Open Books help dissuade the impulse to move to a more suburban area for want of better learning environments.

“Once you have a kid in Chicago, you’re always faced with a decision of whether or not you’ll be able to make it work in an urban area,” he said. Wright noted that the storefront setting made the location particularly inviting.

With the new space up and running, Ratner said that all signs lead to expansion.

The group’s full-time staff has grown from two to nine employees, with a volunteer pool of around 2,300. She hoped to double the number of student in the field trip program, which last year served about 2,500 kids.

“This is really the next big part of the dream,” she said.