Bookstore brings beneficial bounty

No matter what one is struggling with, there’s a business owner in La Crescenta who cares and is hawking his wares to help provide answers and solutions to life’s small and large problems.

Whether the situation involves child rearing, attorney problems, diet and health issues, bankruptcy, foreclosure, high school SATs, getting into a good college, or any number of other scenarios, Golam Chowdhury, owner of OnlyHelpfulBooks.com, contends the books, gifts and other items in his store can enlighten and help solve almost any dilemma.

With about 3 million books published every year, in English alone, experts are writing invaluable information from their success or failure experiences that can be used to solve or prevent potential problems, Chowdhury said.

“There is so much information. People just have to pick up a book and read,” he said.

In April, Chowdhury, 49, opened OnlyHelpfulBooks.com at 3115 Foothill Blvd. in La Crescenta.

He has selected to sell more than 2,000 of what he considers to be the most constructive and timely books to help Crescenta Valley people through whatever their life situation might be.

“There are good books that people don’t know about. If they read these books, they can learn and open their eyes to new possibilities,” Chowdhury said.

Inside the store, the walls are lined with title after title of books that could benefit readers.

There also are other gift items and cards, and books on compact disc for people who don’t have the time or inclination to read.

Chowdhury has had a passion for books since he was a child, growing up in Bangladesh. Since he came to the United States in 1992, he has spent a lot of time in bookstores and also listening to motivational speakers.

Prior to opening the bookstore, Chowdhury spent the past 12 years managing five stores for Radio Shack.

Although he’s passionate about providing convenient, useful and effectual reading material to the people of his community, owning a successful bookstore isn’t Chowdhury’s main goal in life.

“Books are the medium goal, my career is to speak,” he said.

Within the next few years, he hopes to open more branches of OnlyHelpfulBooks.com bookstores in other cities, and also become a motivational speaker, bringing his passion for books and people and their potential to people in this country and in Bangladesh.

“I have learned that every human being has a power, but they don’t cultivate that power,” he said, adding, “With persistence you can come up from any level.”