Arcadia is the only discount academic bookstore in two thousand square miles of the Illinois prairie.  We aim to serve the NIU community and general interest readers by bringing high quality books from a wide range of topics at a deep discount.

 Opening Arcadia as a discount bookstore is a long time coming dream of Timothy Ngo, a recent immigrant from Vietnam.  Tim was raised by a single parent in an impoverished communist country.  Growing up in a small provincial backwater, he became a voracious reader at an early age.  Books provided a perfect escape for a little boy with big dreams.

 Tim’s extended family was made poor after the communist government took over the country in 1975 and banned all private property and enterprises.  Whatever money he could save up, he bought books.  But he read books so much faster than he could buy them.  Borrowing books at the library was not an option then so he usually had to read books more than once.  He dreamed of one day owning more books than he can ever read.  And that dream simply came true a week after he set foot in America.  He bought over 100 books for $10 at the Leidig Center in Dixon, and he was the happiest man alive.

"Outside of a dog, a book is your best friend, and inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."

                                                          Groucho Marx 

As  young boy, Tim read the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and dreamed about exploring caves.  The Mekong Delta where he lived is completely flat, muddy, wet, hot and humid.  He dreamed about floating down the Mississippi on a raft after reading the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  He fantasized about living alone on a lush tropical island after reading the Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Crusoe.  And then there were Twenty thousand Leagues under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, the Mysterious Island, Moby Dick, etc..  There were also Vietnamese authors who wrote adventure books for young readers.

Opening Arcadia Discount Books, Tim hopes to bring affordable books to the local community.  Everyone can certainly find something of interest.  From academic to general interest books, everything in the store is at 50 to 90% of the publisher’s price.  But that’s not all, you can save more by becoming a member and receive an extra 10% discount and earn points toward redeeming a full year subscription to many of America’s favorite magazines.  People who can’t afford books are delighted with the Free Paperback Exchange Program.  Can’t find time to read?  Join the club.  The Arcadia Fiction Club is open for membership for $19.95 a year, which includes the cost of six books.

So come on in.  We hope to see you at Arcadia soon.

Timothy Ngo 

"Today a reader, tomorrow a leader."
                     W. Fusselman