Anyone who values the book culture in Brunswick should congratulate Twice-Told Tales — the secondhand bookshop run by Curtis Friends — on its 10-year anniversary this week.

Operated by an all-volunteer crew of over 60 people, Twice-Told Tales has become a fixture on Maine Street, a must-stop for readers of all kinds, as well as a significant online presence that ships books to buyers all over the world. Those interested in finding out where Brunswick books have traveled merely need glance at the densely pinned map in the store.

Brunswick residents may recall that Twice-Told Tales is only the most recent form of fundraising that the well-established Friends have engaged in on behalf of Curtis Memorial Library.

Once upon a time, the Friends organized bake sales for the library. Later, they produced one of the largest library book sales in New England. This event relied upon an army of volunteers year-round — including members of the Navy — as well as a storage site donated by Downeast Energy. When the latter was sold, they lost the free use of the warehouse for the community’s boxes and boxes of donated books.

It was then that they began to hatch an idea of a secondhand bookstore.

A small group of Friends traveled around the area investigating other libraries’ bookstores and vetted their business plan with experts before launching the first iteration of the store on Pleasant Street on July 6, 2015.

They haven’t looked back since.

Ten years later, they’re a well-oiled machine in a high-profile spot on Maine Street. Volunteers process all the books that come into the store. Every book is assessed, cleaned and organized. They are often in such good shape that they appear to be new. One customer who had been given a tour of the store was so impressed with the condition of the books that she wondered where the “used books” were.

This, the Friends say, is a testament to the community of Brunswick readers who support the store with such excellent donations.

These have included Annie Dillard’s personal copy of “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,” with her handwritten notes, a signed copy of a Robert Frost collection with a special provenance and a historic edition of a 1916 Maine auto touring book filled with black-and-white photos and advertisements for local businesses.

Some years ago, the Friends heard about libraries selling books online, so they opened up a virtual storefront that has given them an international marketplace. This now comprises about 30% of their sales on average, and the books do go all over the world. Just recently they shipped a book on cranial manipulation to an osteopath in Belgium.

Chris Eames, the current president of the Friends, believes that Twice-Told Tales is one of the few library bookstores that has both a brick-and-mortar presence as well as one online. She says that it is almost a full-time job to research, list, pack and ship online books. Nine people are involved in online processing alone.

Despite the amount of labor it takes to keep Twice-Told Tales running, Barbara Burr, who coordinates the volunteers, says that the people who volunteer there are so dedicated and enthusiastic that they often don’t have openings for additional workers. Board member Scott Johnson notes that they “take a proprietary interest in what we are doing.”

Twice-Told Tales has been such a success that it has been able to help fund some extraordinary programming at Curtis Library, including ongoing support for the Bookmobile, which just began its third year on the road ; the children’s help desk; museum passes; the Best Seller Express; and more.

The store’s name references the title of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1837 collection of previously published stories. Hawthorne’s Bowdoin classmate Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was to praise the volume, writing, “Live ever, sweet, sweet book!” Well might we urge the same of the Friends’ bookstore.

Happy anniversary, Twice-Told Tales!