BookSite began in 1994 as the dotcom version of Rutherford's Book Shoppe in Delaware, Ohio. It was the first online bookstore based exclusively on the web. BookSite developed the "shared platform" approach (ASP) in 1996 for independent bookstores which now serves as the foundation of BookLetters. To date, BookSite has developed more than 300 e-commerce sites.

BookSite has focused on creating services that can be extensively customized yet are easy to maintain, ones that are both user- and staff-friendly. With BookLetters, BookSite has successfully adapted its technology from online bookselling to public libraries.