#6129
[Second Issue of the Day]
#3
Washington Post
March 12, 2002
Down-to-Wire Deal Heads Off Book Burn
Library of Congress to Glean Russian Items
By Dana Hedgpeth
Victor Kamkin Inc., the Rockville bookstore that became a mecca for those in search of materials on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, got a three-week reprieve yesterday. Its eviction was delayed so that officials from the Library of Congress may pore through the bookseller's 1 million-piece collection to determine what should be saved.
Minutes before the books were to be thrown into two green, 10-ton dumpsters and taken to an incinerator, the store's owner and landlord stood in the parking lot to announce a last-minute deal.
Igor Kalageorgi, owner of the 50-year-old bookseller, said he would pay his landlord, Allen Kronstadt, $10,000 in rent -- raised from sales made last weekend after hundreds of customers came to his store -- to stay in the 20,000-square-foot warehouse off Boiling Brook Parkway.
After exchanging accusations in front of a crowd earlier, the two stepped inside to hastily broker the deal. When they emerged 15 minutes later, they awkwardly shook hands in front of TV cameras.
"It was not a complicated issue," Kalageorgi said. "We both wanted the same thing -- not to see the books destroyed. There were a few egos involved before, but we put those all aside."
Kronstadt started the eviction process in December after Kalageorgi fell close to $200,000 behind in his rent. Because the collection was so large, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office asked Kronstadt to take the books to the county's transfer station on Shady Grove Road, where they would have been stored for burning elsewhere.
Over the weekend, hundreds of customers waited in line up to two hours to buy books. The store sold about $20,000 worth of books -- five times the volume of a typical weekend. Rep. Constance A. Morella (R-Md.), County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), the sheriff's office and the Library of Congress moved to stop the eviction.
Late Sunday, James H. Billington, the librarian of Congress, toured the warehouse to find items for the library after Morella called him.
Billington, who is also a Russian scholar, said he would send a few staff members to the store, possibly as soon as today, to sort through the collection. The books will be donated, not sold, to the library.
"These books have to be preserved," Billington said. "We're pleased the nation's library will have a hand in getting some of the materials. This is a very rich supply. We're grateful. This has been a historic store, and we're pleased that it's reaching a philanthropic conclusion."
What the Library of Congress doesn't take will be turned over to Kronstadt, who has said that he will try to find a place to donate the books.
Kronstadt also agreed to forgive the estimated $200,000 in rent that he says Kalageorgi owes. (Kalageorgi says it's $115,000.) "C'est la vie," Kronstadt said as he left the store.
In Russia, word of Victor Kamkin's closing spread through newspapers and over radio. Many grieved the loss -- either because they were longtime customers and said they would miss ordering items from it or because they were vendors who were owed money or periodicals.
"They owe me $90,000, mostly from last year," said Vladimir Gribov, president of Inform-Systema, a Russian periodicals and book distributor in Moscow. Kalageorgi, who says he plans to open another store but hasn't decided where, denied having a debt to the firm.
Gribov said: "They asked us to understand their difficult situation and to not demand big payments. They said their situation would be better, but their payment has not been so good."
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