By TOM KANE

HONESDALE - Barry and Hillary Anthony have started a rare business-at least for Honesdale. A rare book store.

The store, which is called Church Street Books and opened eight weeks ago, is doing a brisk business, according to Barry. "We're shipping out hundreds of book a week to readers all over the country," he said.

The reason for the brisk business? The Internet.

"We've been getting inquiries from all over and the Internet keeps us going," Anthony said. "We wouldn't be able to keep a store open without it."

The Anthonys are not new to the book business. They have another rare bookstore in Milford, which is doing very well, he said. It is called The Book Cellar. They both work full-time at their book business, Hillary in the Milford store and Barry in the Honesdale store.

Beside rare and out-of-print books, Church Street Books handles used paperbacks. "We will have the second room of the store dedicated entirely to used paperbacks and we'll move all the rare books to a third room," he said.

Eventually, there will be about 25,000 books in the store, he said.

"We can also order any new book in three days," Anthony said. It doesn't pay to carry new books on the shelf because the chain stores are doing it much better and would put us out of business.

"We have our niche and we work hard to fill it," he said.

The store also has a supply of classical music tapes and some books on tape.

Local readers can take advantage of a book trade arrangement, Anthony said. "It works like this: a person brings in a number of books-paperback or hardcover-and they get a credit towards the purchase of other books in the store. They pay half of the price of the book they choose."

Church Street Bookstore can also put you in touch with several websites that handle rare and out-of-print books. "We have an agreement with three of the best websites in the business," he said.

The store also contracts with Barnes and Noble Books and Amazon.com both to supply them books and purchase books.

"If you want a book-whether it is new or out-of-print, we can get it for you," he said.

The store, which is on the corner of 6th and Church Streets is opened Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Anthonys were formerly employed by The River Reporter in the advertising department.