A Shop You Can’t Read by Its Cover : Books: Dutton’s in North Hollywood, which was put together on an ‘ad-hoc basis,’ sells everything from spy novels to rare tomes and artwork.

If your crazy Aunt Edna owned a bookstore, it might look like Dutton’s Books in North Hollywood.

Tens of thousands of paperbacks and hard-bound books spill across the shelves, onto tables and onto the floor in some spots. Coffee brews somewhere in back; the aroma alternates with a musty odor of dust and used books. Such chaos lends a coziness that makes this one of the most comfortable stores in the San Fernando Valley.

As a result, customers don’t simply shop at Dutton’s, they linger. Regulars arrive during the early evening and are likely to fall into a lengthy conversation at the register or perhaps find a quiet nook where they can read. As Pat Kimball of Sepulveda puts it: “This is the place I come to be .”

Dutton’s opened for business near the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Magnolia Street in 1961. The storefront was built to look like a Cape Cod colonial, as were many of the buildings in that area and era.

Dave Dutton, who took over the bookstore from his parents in 1975, sells everything from spy novels to rare tomes and artwork. He has seen the bookstore annex two adjacent spaces, which had previously functioned as a real estate office and a florist shop, and expand to the size of a small supermarket. Chance fashioned the milieu.

“We just kind of put it together on an ad-hoc basis. It functions well that way,” he said of the store. “It evolved slowly, naturally.”

Dutton and his wife, Judy, also operate stores in Burbank and downtown Los Angeles. His brother, Doug, runs Dutton’s Brentwood.

At the North Hollywood store, new publications in shiny covers inhabit a corner to the left of the front door, the most orderly section of the shop.

Beyond that point, Dutton’s takes on a decidedly pack-rat appearance. Books are stacked and wedged wherever there is room. Mismatched cabinets, brimming with volumes, stand here and there. Alcoves contain even more selections.

The literature literally overflows into bins on the sidewalk outside.

“It’s a really comfortable place to walk around,” said Richard Woods of Van Nuys. “I usually come in knowing what I want. But I usually walk out with something else.”

Sections are marked by handwritten cards. “Transportation: Cars and Trains” is an appropriately congested area in back. “Celtic mythology” endures in a shelf-lined closet that has had its door removed. In the main room, “Child Care” books are opposite “Do-It-Yourself” manuals.

“Some people love it and some are freaked out,” clerk Dave Abbott said of the clutter. “Maybe it depends on which side of the brain you use.”

Abbott and his cohorts are happy to serve as tour guides or suggest books. They are just as willing to leave be those customes who desire privacy. And they will fetch a stool or chair for those who plop down on the floor.

Between leafing through Shakespeare or Sheldon, regulars may even fall into discussions among themselves.

“A couple of marriages have evolved,” Dutton said. “Two of our customers came in with their baby. They wanted to show us the result of having met here six or seven years ago.”

Dutton’s Books is at 5146 Laurel Canyon Blvd., North Hollywood. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. Call (818) 769-3866.