It was the murals that brought me to Estacada. The Book Nook brought me back.

This small town, not 30 miles from Portland, boasts an explosion of murals that adorn the exteriors of buildings throughout the compact, highly walkable downtown. A group called the Artback Artists’ Cooperative created the murals in an effort both to boost civic pride and to champion the visual arts. Some of the bold, colorful paintings depict important moments in Estacada’s history, such as the 1905 steam train that played a key role in the region’s then-booming logging industry. Other panels portray Native or Latino cultural contributions.

Nature — fish, birds, the river, and wild floral displays — occupies a sturdy component of mural real estate. Even the grocery store is festooned with Estacada mural art.

Just beyond the feast of wall paintings, a small sign caught my eye. As an unrepentant bookstore junkie, I was drawn to The Book Nook, a cozy shop wedged between a print shop and a nail parlor, as if by printed-page magnet. It’s hard to say who was happier — me or my 85-pound chocolate Lab — to see the note on the front door that read: “Well-behaved dogs are welcome.”

“Behave yourself,” I warned Charley, whose appetite for literature became evident early on, when he devoured several juicy paperbacks.

Inside the space at 155 S.W. Third St. was a tiny ocean of meticulously alphabetized titles, neatly divided between hardcover books and paperbacks, all arranged within carefully curated categories. Puzzles, DVDs, and CDs occupied their own shelves. Large-print books also had their own section.

Framed artwork by a Book Nook volunteer, Earlene Marsh, hung on the walls. In the rear of the store, a child of about 3 — already media-wise enough not to divulge her name — sat while her mommy read aloud to her. In the area marked “Horror,” a 17-year-old volunteer named Jay shelved new donations.

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Used bookstores are, of course, not unusual. Nor are designated corners of public libraries, where donations or overflow books are marketed. Within the Multnomah County Library system, I’m a devotee of the Friends Library Store in the Central Library, as well as Rose City Reads, a larger used-book emporium out on Northeast 122^nd Avenue.

But it’s more than dog friendliness that sets The Book Nook apart. All hardbacks are priced at $2. Paperbacks cost a dollar, and kids’ books, 25 cents. Kids who don’t have a quarter have been known to take their books home for nothing — and all kids get their first book gratis. The store does not accept credit cards or e-funding. Customers with bills too large to make change are typically sent home with their book and a promise that they will return with payment. Book Nook manager Margie Arnett said they always do.

Thanks to a gift some years ago from a retired teacher named Betty Balzer, The Book Nook is proudly nonprofit. Balzer’s will established the Estacada Area Literary Foundation with the specific intent of allowing The Book Nook to remain independent, staffed entirely by volunteers.

“We feel thankful,” Arnett said. “Our area is not a book desert.”

The Book Nook’s exact provenance is unclear. Arnett’s mom, Linda Arnett, was the volunteer manager for more than 25 years before handing the keys over to her daughter. Margie Arnett and the rest of the volunteer staff keep the place open seven days a week, although usually only for a few hours at a time. The Book Nook has no website, but its Facebook page lists hours and phone number (503-630-3993).

Most of the books on sale come from community donations. Arnett said the shop also has received books from going-out-of-business bookstores. Once a year, normally in the fall, the shop has a giant sale where no book costs more than $1.

“Teachers can come in and fill up for their classrooms,” Arnett said.

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As both a former teacher and an avid reader — her fiction preference is mystery/thriller — this makes Arnett happy. In her perfect world, reading would be an assumption, not a privilege.

“Reading should be like water,” she said. “And water should be free, too.”

The Book Nook strives only to cover its rent and utilities, about $1,000 per month. But the shop brings in enough to fund scholarships each year for high school seniors bound for further study. “College, vocational training, we don’t care,” Arnett said.

To qualify, students must submit a letter of acceptance from their place of future study as well as three letters of recommendation. In addition, applicants must write an essay describing how they would like to incorporate literacy into their community. This year, the Book Nook gave out 10 scholarships of $1,000 each.

On my return visit to The Book Nook, Arnett sat at the front counter, discussing with a frequent customer the virtues of recorking Birkenstock shoes.

“Just call me The Regular,” he told me, as he pulled out a $20 bill to pay for a hardback copy of Clive Cussler’s Sahara.

Politely, Arnett told The Regular that she couldn’t make change. “Just pay me the next time you come in,” she said.

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But The Regular was adamant, saying he’d be back in 15 minutes with the correct change.

Fifteen minutes later, there he was, handing over two crisp one-dollar bills.

“You come in here often enough,” said The Regular, “you almost always find something you want.”