Thomas Baldwin Sr., the owner of Baldwin’s Book Barn, the landmark bookstore in a historic barn just outside West Chester, has died at the age of 80, writes Michael Rellahan for the Daily Local News.

“Tom was a wonderful man, a kind man, a generous man,” said Gene Pisasale, a Kennett Square historian.

During his life, Baldwin transformed the barn in East Bradford Township into an iconic destination for book lovers. They flocked from all around the world to spend a day in the unique setting.

Baldwin’s Book Barn offered visitors five floors of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with all manner of books to explore, ranging from war to cooking to self-help.

And while the book barn is organized properly with directories available on each floor, the stock could sometime yield discoveries of duplicates in disparate sections. The New York Times described the barn’s system as “intentional chaos” in its profile.

“The book barn is, in my view, the best bookstore in the United States,” said Pisasale.

Read more about Thomas Baldwin Sr. in the Daily Local News here.