It's the age of the Kindle and online books, a world where hard copies are becoming increasingly rare. E-Books are ordered through Amazon and iTunes and are read on iPads. But one small used bookstore can be found in Boca Raton, Fla., where the classics still line the shelves. William Shakespeare, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain are among those who find a place on the stacks.

Brandeis Books, a non-profit bookstore that sells used books to raise money for the University, began in 1995 when two members of the Brandeis University National Women's Committee opened the store in Florida.

"[The creators] decided that it would be a unique way to sell books and raise money for the library at Brandeis. They rented a store in Boca Raton, their husbands built the bookshelves and the store came into being," said Molly Seiden, an organizer and volunteer at the bookstore. The women put out the word that they were accepting used books and the store took off, according to Seiden.

Open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Sunday, the Florida bookstore is staffed by volunteers from the National Women's Committee that come from Delray Beach, Pompano Beach and Boca Raton, Fla. to run the store. On average, there are as many as five or six volunteers working throughout the day, according to Seiden.

The store boasts a wide selection of used books from different genres, all of which are donated to the store. "It is easier to tell you what we don't sell," Seiden said when asked about the collection. "We don't sell magazines because we don't have room for them. We don't have textbooks, and we don't sell computer business books, because by the time we get them, they're so out of date and nobody wants them," she said. Other than that, the store takes whatever it can and will even pick the books up from homes.

"If you can't come to the store, we'll go out and get them and bring to them to the store. We'll even pack them up. There are a lot of old retirees down here, and they physically cannot do it. A lot of people are moving into a care situation from a house, and they're too frail," Seiden explained.

While some are valuable classics, others are trashy novels, still popular, but worth less. "We are always looking for the extra-special ones, but you take what you get," Seiden said. "Sometimes you're surprised and they're marvelous, and sometimes you think, 'Why we did we bother?' There's nothing you can do about that."

Certain books are sold for as cheap as three or four dollars and are sold for next to nothing when the store runs its half-price sale. Others are rare collections, which bring large amounts of revenue to the store. About three months ago, the store received a valuable collection that Seiden described as absolutely incredible. "We priced them, we looked them up [and] one man wrote us a check for over $900 that first day," she said.

Still, the store has good days and bad days, according to Seiden. "There are days when you pick up nothing but Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel. That's not going to bring you any money," she said. While Seiden said the amount donated to the University varies depending on the year's revenue, "It is adequate for Brandeis to still sign our lease. It's enough to keep our store going," she said.

The clientele varies, though usually the store attracts an older crowd because of its location. "Don't forget this is Florida," Seiden said. "The young kids tend to go Kindle."

Though the Boca Raton store is still succeeding, modern technology has driven many of the Brandeis bookstores out of business. "They were many, many [Brandeis bookstores]. There aren't any more."

"We're feeding the dinosaur. Heard of the Kindle?" Seiden joked. "Many bookstores have folded. You have to get lucky. And so far we are still in existence." The store has no trouble keeping the shelves fully stocked and does so with almost no advertising because of their budget constraints. The other Brandeis Books still standing is located in Tuscon, Ariz.

Books are also sold through Brandeis Books Online, where customers can browse and buy from the store's online inventory.

Though Seiden is not an alumna of the University, she says she loves working on the bookstore because of its educational aspect. "I can think of much worse projects," she laughed.