New London - The independently run Monte Cristo Bookshop has faded into history, replaced at least temporarily by the New London Collective Bookshop with a much smaller number of books at a different location.

Michael Whitehouse of Groton, executive director of the nonprofit collective, said he had to deal with a number of issues that took the steam out of his intention to keep the Monte Cristo running, including outstanding debts that were higher than he originally thought, problems with the Green Street building and a lack of volunteers.

Not able to keep up with the rent or workload, he and other volunteers moved about 2,000 used books that were donated to the collective since it took over from former owners Gina and Chris Jones in August and deposited them at a new location in the mezzanine of the New London Antiques Center on Bank Street.

"The space we have is fantastic," Whitehouse said. "It's a great area for a book signing."

Only problem is the space hasn't been set up in an attractive way yet. Whitehouse said the move sapped the last bit of energy out of volunteers and, having had to take on a full-time job, he is looking for someone else to take over the operation.

The good news is that the agreement with the New London Antiques Center takes much of the tedium out of the job of selling books, Whitehouse said. The center charges a small amount for rent, he said, and takes a percentage of the sales while providing a constant presence from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., leaving a new operator with the more pleasant task of arranging author talks and other events.

"The key is there, and the engine is running," Whitehouse said. "We just need to find some people to get in and drive."

Left behind in the move were about 11,000 new and used books collected by the former owners of Monte Cristo, who turned downtown's only bookshop over to Whitehouse last year, hoping he could energize a group of volunteers to keep the store running. Those books now belong to Michael Blair of Stonington, owner of the building at 38 Green St., who asked the Joneses to come in before Christmas to open for a few days and put the store back in order.

"It's like a time capsule," former owner Chris Jones said of the shuttered store. "You literally just have to turn the key and you're in (to run it)."

Blair said the bookstore collective couldn't keep up with the rent, which was nearly $1,300 a month. He still would love to see a bookstore in the space - a use, Blair said, that fits in well with the building's artist studios and basement for musicians - but would be open to a variety of other uses as well, including a coffee shop.

A new bookstore owner, he said, would have to come with experience and plenty of capital. Barring a new bookshop moving in, Blair said he expects to liquidate his current stock at fire-sale prices.

For Jones, watching the demise in just a few months of something he and wife Gina took two years to build is "like selling a car and watching the new owner smash it into a tree as they leave the driveway," he said in a Facebook message.

But in a follow-up phone interview Jones said he didn't blame Whitehouse or Blair for the Monte Cristo's demise. His only disagreement with Whitehouse, he said, involved the issue of discounting, which he did not recommend.

"It was a lot of hard work," Jones said. "I don't think Whitehouse understood that until he got the keys. ... You can't just sit back and expect customers."

Whitehouse, who became a father for the first time within a few weeks of taking over the Monte Cristo, said his mission is to continue to offer a place in New London where people can buy books. If Blair finds someone else to run a bookstore on Green Street, he said he will consider that a mission accomplished.

In the meanwhile, he is hoping to identify someone as soon as possible who is interested in arranging events out of the antiques center space, where the most expensive books sell for $7. All books are donated; the shop is not buying items at this time.

"My goal is to find some good people to basically take it over," Whitehouse said. "I'm looking for people with some passion for building community - a literary community."

l.howard@theday.com

Twitter: @KingstonLeeHow