(30-32) Usually, people visit bookstores to buy books. But those who walk
into Cotoha come to see its owner, Chen Bing-Hong. They bring him
books with different problems. Some have lost their covers, some are
missing a few pages, and some have pages that are falling out. Chen can
always fix the books and make them whole again.
Chen sees himself as a doctor. He says that books, like people, get
sick and need help. In Taiwan, there are not many “doctors” like him,
and most of them work for big libraries and museums. If big libraries and
museums are hospitals, Chen’s bookstore is a health center. Big libraries
and museums fix important old books with serious problems, and Chen
helps people with books that have smaller problems. However, the smaller
size of the problems doesn’t mean Chen’s job is less important.
Chen gave an example of a science book he once worked on. It was
very old and half of its cover was lost. Its owner still wanted to keep it
because it was a gift from a teacher who helped him follow his dream of
studying science. When he got his book back, he was very surprised at the
new-old book. He felt he was brought back to the days with his teacher.
Seeing the owner’s smile made Chen happy, because smiles like that are
what his magic is for.