When Terri Cumbie and her husband, Neil Browne, moved to Bend seven years ago, they left behind their beloved little slice of Appalachia. There, Cumbie implemented and ran a Court Appointed Special Advocate program for kids for nine years.

“It was really difficult, heart-wrenching work,” she said. Two months ago, she opened Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe in downtown Bend, and the work couldn’t be more different.

“Besides being for-profit — that’s different — I see people with happiness, gladness. It’s a huge change,” said Cumbie, 53.

But as stressful as nonprofit work could be, Cumbie loved the sense of community in her former home of Athens, Ohio, where Browne earned his master’s and doctorate degrees before accepting a tenure-track teaching position at Oregon State University-Cascades Campus in 2002.

“He made tenure this past year; that’s exciting,” Cumbie said. “So we’re staying.”

However, she added, “We miss the community that we had there” in Ohio. “It was a depressed area, and everybody just stuck together. And I feel like, with this economic depression happening, people need to come together here.”

She’s hoping — and banking on — her hunch that Dudley’s can foster an Appalachia-like sense of community right here in Central Oregon.

In addition to used books and a cafe serving baked treats, coffee and tea, the shop has a large upstairs section that wasn’t part of the browsing area when the shop at 135 N.W. Minnesota Ave. was home to another downtown bookshop. The Book Barn, which sold new books, closed last spring.

On Tuesday, Cumbie traded jokes and stories with customers who came through the doors, including coffee drinkers and book browsers.

“Right now, we have on a fairly regular basis students who come in and do projects together. We have the Spanish Club, a knitting group, two book clubs and a French group has been invited for Saturdays,” Cumbie said.

There’s also the Employment Support Group, a group of unemployed folks who meet weekly in the large yet cozy upstairs space, which boasts a large table and wooden chairs, cushioned chairs and a couch, as well as the children’s and nonfiction sections of the bookshop.

Books by Hemingway, Shakespeare, Stegner, Rand and Roth line the bookshelves, some of which date back to grad school days in Ohio. Other shelves were found online, and a glass case was salvaged from Lava Lands Visitor Center.

Downstairs is home to a couch, tables, chairs and a couple of rockers Cumbie painted herself after learning to paint with her left hand while recovering from four surgeries in as many years on her right rotator cuff.

The shop has already hosted a couple of readings, and “Rogue River Journal” author John Daniel will visit for a signing in May, says Browne, who was an Oregon Book Award finalist for his debut book last year.

Browne says that Dudley’s doesn’t want to conflict with independent bookstores or library programming. “The interest is to complement one another in that way, and not to compete with any of the other places.

“This is used (books) anyway, so it makes a nice way to thicken the literary environment.”

Cumbie says that, so far, it’s been fun getting to know her repeat customers, as well as the various groups using the second floor. There are already some repeat customers, who return each week to take swap-out books. “That’s really fun, getting to know them. I love my customers.”

She believes that “people want comfort and community to get them through these times.”

And along with that, they want cheap entertainment.

“You can’t go to a movie for the price of coming in here and grabbing a cup of joe, a treat and a used book for many, many hours of reading.”

What: Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe

When: Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; will stay open late for groups

Where: 135 N.W. Minnesota Ave., Bend

Contact: 541-749-2010