Since November 2017 when the The Published Page Bookshop first opened its doors on the Courthouse Square in Cleburne, Texas we’ve written about this large bricks-and-mortar shop many times.
Who could fail to be fascinated by the saga of an older couple – Jim and Connye Hart, who’d been book sellers since 1997. They were in their 70s nine years ago when they started the new venture, and in their 80s today. The decision to go for a physical shop had multiple dimensions. They got tired of the impersonal world of online sales, and also tired of paying lease rent to house the overflow inventory in storage. They eyed the nearly 150 year old two story building with 10,000 square feet of interior space, and liked what they saw. They decided it was just what they needed to reinvent the glory days of the trade, when bookshops were big and fun…really BIG and all of it up close and personal.
Who among of us like Jim, a proud 5th generation Texan, wouldn’t want to take a flyer on decaying commercial real estate in our seventh decade and risk it all on a long vacant but vast two story old building in the middle of nowhereville North Texas, aka the county seat of Johnson County, population roughly 40,000. But with the right mindset, (cue the dreamy music) and a full tank of gas, it was potentially in the orbit of Dallas-Fort Worth. What’s a hundred miles, give or take, this is after all Texas?
And then, as the years rolled by, we watched reinvent the big, really big, bookstore, with all the bells and whistles, including comics, records, DVDs …. but most importantly with all the books, hundreds of thousands of books, and at any given time maybe 75,000 of them on the shelves.
The Published Page specialties include science fiction, petroleum geology, Civil War and American History with an emphasis on Texas. In 2017 their average sale was about $12. By 2021 it had risen to to $25. Back then he told RBH, “I want our customers to be able to find something to buy, and I want them to come back.”
By 2024 they were hosting a big off-site annual book sale during Thanksgiving week. For this event they pulled an estimated 12,000-15,000 out of the boxes and invited all comers. They’d also dropped internet sales entirely and focused on in-store sales. At the same time they expanded shop hours and were open on Saturday and Sunday. That year Jim commented,”Walk-ins only means no more shipping hassles.” He added, “Running a big general interest bookstore means the days go by real fast.”
And it was working, sort of: Jim estimated that in 2025 as much as 60% of their trade came from out-of-town. These were customers who made a special trip to come see them, and to hear Jim tell it, lots of them returned.
Even so, they were all challenging years for the Harts. As they struggled to get their shop up and going there were also setbacks:
In 2021 Jim observed, “Everything takes longer than you thought and you burn through your reserves.” Add an unexpected foreclosure and bankruptcy, toss in some serious health issues for Connye, get hit full blast by a global pandemic, and then, just when those clouds started to clear, let the equally old historic building next door collapse.
But there were also bright spots.
Their customer base expanded and was no longer primarily older folks. They were also part of a steady but modest boom in the retail sector of Cleburne. With the help of an active merchant’s association the number of area businesses continued to grow from less than 20 to more than 70.
They also made headway luring Texans from the DFW area to their venue. In fact this July the Dallas NPR affiliate KERA-FM did a warm interview with the couple. Jim told the station that in the nine years they’d been in business they’d sold over 100,000 books.
But this year’s installment of the Published Page is far darker than previous years. The couple took an out of town trip on Aug. 11 to celebrate their 61st wedding anniversary. On their way home on Aug. 14 their car was t-boned and totaled.
Then there was the little matter of the July 20, 2026 letter from the Cleburne Fire Marshal. It was titled “Notice to Repair” and it cited a 2021 inspection which found many code violations.
The letter said: “We ask that these violations are corrected or reasonable time line that repairs can be made within 10 days from receipt of this letter. A follow up inspection will be performed on September 23, 2026 to ensure compliance. Additional time may be granted based upon progress of the property owner.
“Failure to respond or make progress toward compliance may result in any or all of the following actions:
(1) Issuance of Municipal Court citations that may result in fines up to $2,000 per day per violation;
(2) Obtaining an Administrative Search Warrant from a magistrate to perform a complete inspection of the interior / exterior of the structures;
(3) Submitting the property for a hearing before the Cleburne Building & Standards Commission.”
But cut to the chase, the July 20th letter also said, “Following an inspection conducted by the Fire Marshal's Office on January 6, 2026, it has been determined that The Published Page Bookshop, located at 10 East Chambers Street, is in violation of applicable fire and life safety codes.
“The conditions observed during the inspection present a significant risk to the safety of
employees, customers, and the public. Due to the severity of these violations, the premises are
hereby ordered closed effective immediately until all identified fire code deficiencies have been
corrected and approved by the Fire Marshal's Office.
“The business shall remain closed to the public and shall not resume operations until:
All cited fire code violations have been corrected.
Any required permits and inspections have been completed.
A reinspection has been conducted by the Fire Marshal's Office.
Written authorization to reopen has been issued by this office.
Failure to comply with this order may result in additional enforcement actions, including
citations, fines, or other remedies authorized by applicable laws and regulations.”
So that’s where it stands now. The shop is closed, the violations (which one supposes have been in place since day one) have not been corrected, and for the moment at least, the future doesn’t look too bright.
Rare Book Hub tried to contact the fire marshal for comment, but our calls and emails were not returned. We also reached out to other members of the community, but on-the-record comments were not forthcoming, not from the fire marshal, not from the Cleburne Office of Economic Development, not from the Historic Downtown Cleburne Association. However several off-the-record responses suggested there might be other reasons besides the code violations for the closure.
Jim is still hopeful that the annual off-site sale will happen in November, but so far no date has been set. And even though he and Connye walked away from the accident, they are still not sure there are no lingering health issues from the crash.
The only person we found who would speak for publication was area resident Deborah Lightfoot. She described herself as a “regular customer” who first came in “for the coffee and stayed for the conversation.” She was impressed by “the cheerful welcoming nature of the Harts. I believe the energy, time and money they invested really helped. The stores around owe them a lot for restoration and rejuvenation of the neighborhood.”
Read earlier RBH coverage of The Published Page Bookshop
Nov. 2017 https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2310
May 2019 https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/2600
Aug 2021 https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3033
Dec. 2024 https://www.rarebookhub.com/articles/3753
The Published Page
10 E. Chambers St.
Cleburne, Texas 76031
Jim & Connye Hart (817) 349-6366
jimhart@publishedpage.com
Website: https://www.publishedpage.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bibliotreasures
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Reach RBH writer Susan Halas at wailukusue@gmail.com
This is how the building looked when they bought it in 2017. The structure on the left is the one that fell down and was later demolished.
An interior view of an aisle before the building was closed by the fire marshal.
Their car after the August 2026 accident.
