Andover, Massachusetts, sits in the Merrimack Valley about 21 miles north of downtown Boston, and every stop below lies within roughly 11 miles of its town offices on Bartlet Street. North Andover and Methuen are close neighbors to the north, with Salem, New Hampshire just past the state line; Wilmington, North Reading and Reading spread out to the south, Middleton sits to the southeast, and Billerica and Burlington fill the southwest. Lowell, Chelmsford and Dracut to the west are not part of this guide, while Stoneham and Lynnfield, each with a stop of its own, appear on the Boston and Salem pages.
The mix here leans heavily on volunteers. Eight of the twelve stops are run by library Friends groups, either as a room that opens with the building or as a sale on fixed dates, and just one address in this guide actually buys books across a counter: the Used Book Superstore in Burlington, which settles in store credit that converts to cash at half its value. The rest take donations or nothing at all, so read the intake rules before you load the car.
The calendar for the coming months is already set. North Reading's Friends open their fall sale on November 10, 2026, Memorial Hall Library holds a one-day holiday sale on December 5, a Saturday, and a five-day winter sale at the end of January 2027, while the spring editions in North Andover and Methuen had not been dated by late October.
Used bookstore and buyback counterUsed Book Superstore
256 Cambridge St, Burlington, MA 01803
Out in Burlington, 10.5 miles south-southwest of the town offices on Cambridge Street, in a building the owners put at more than 13,000 square feet. The store traces itself to a family garage in August 2008, says it is down to this single location after branches in Danvers and Middleton and two more in Salem and Nashua, New Hampshire, and calls itself the largest used bookstore in New England; staff shelve more than 1,000 books a day and rotate colored price stickers so that the oldest stock gets steeper markdowns until, after six months, it moves to clearance or to the Faith Kenya Mission. Selling needs no appointment: the black counter by the entrance scans a load and makes one total offer in non-expiring store credit, redeemable for cash at 50 cents on the dollar, and the buyback page favors most titles printed from 2015 on while limiting Harlequins to 2025 and 2026 releases. Anything over four bags or boxes goes around back to the silver garage door, ideally Monday to Thursday before 4pm, and buying stops half an hour before closing.
Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–8pm, Sun 9am–7pmWebsite Friends of the Library bookstoreBook Store Next Door
183 Middlesex Ave, Wilmington, MA 01887
Wilmington, 7 miles south-southwest, where the Friends of the Wilmington Memorial Library fill the white house beside the library with donated stock and send every dollar back to it. Both library websites agree on $2 hardcovers and $1 paperbacks, though not on DVDs, and the doors open only on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with the Wednesday shift dropped in January and February; an archived copy of the events site from January 2026 shows the same schedule. Donations are taken during those opening hours only, and magazines, cassettes, CDs, VHS tapes, Reader's Digest condensed books and encyclopedias are refused. There is no phone line, so questions go to the Friends by email, and Savers on Main Street is about a mile away if you want a second stop.
Hours: Wed 10am–4pm (not Jan–Feb), Sat 10am–4pmWebsite Friends of the Library saleFriends of Memorial Hall Library Book Sales
Memorial Hall Library, 2 N Main St, Andover, MA 01810
The town library on North Main Street, a short walk west of the town offices, whose Friends say they have raised money for it for over 45 years while holding several sales a year in Memorial Hall on the top floor. The fall 2026 edition ran from Wednesday, September 23 through Sunday, September 27, per the Town of Andover's community calendar, and the Friends' own site lists the next two: a one-day Holiday Book Sale of gift-quality fiction, select nonfiction, games and puzzles set for Saturday, December 5, then a five-day winter run, January 27 to 31, 2027, that opens with a members' preview night, lets the line form 15 minutes before the doors, bans space savers and closes on a Sunday priced by the bag. Stock comes from library discards plus public donations left on a table in the lower lobby outside the Children's Room. Between sales a small selection sits on the bottom floor opposite that room, paid for at the Children's Room circulation desk.
Hours: Next sale: Sat Dec 5, 2026, 9am–3pm; winter sale Jan 27–31, 2027Website Friends of the Library saleFriends of the Flint Memorial Library Fall Book Sale
Flint Memorial Library, 147 Park St, North Reading, MA 01864
North Reading, 6.6 miles south-southeast, is home to the Friends of the Flint Memorial Library and their two book and bake sales a year, in May and November. Their page for the 2026 fall edition sets a kids-only presale on Tuesday, November 10 from 3:30pm to 6pm and a members-only day on Wednesday the 11th, followed by public days on Thursday until 8pm, on Friday and on a shorter Saturday, November 14. Donations come in beforehand on November 7, 8 and 9, and the Friends want clean books you would buy for yourself plus puzzles with every piece, not textbooks, encyclopedias, condensed books, VHS, CDs, DVDs, magazines, travel guides older than five years or computer books older than two. Members also get a free book at each sale, with dues starting at $10 for seniors and students.
Hours: Next sale: Tue Nov 10, 2026 (kids) 3:30–6pm; Wed Nov 11 (members) 10am–5pm; Thu Nov 12 10am–8pm; Fri Nov 13 10am–5pm; Sat Nov 14 9am–3pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Andover?
Start with the Friends groups, since their prices are set to clear shelves. The Book Store Next Door in Wilmington sells paperbacks for a dollar and hardcovers for two, the North Andover Friends run an honor-box table downstairs at Stevens Memorial Library, Reading's turret room runs on the same trust system, and the Friends of the Flint in Middleton charge a flat $1 a book. Bag sales stretch the money further: North Andover ended its fall 2026 sale with $12 bags, and Memorial Hall Library's winter sale closes on a fill-a-bag Sunday in January 2027. The Burlington superstore marks down its oldest stickers week by week, which rewards anyone who visits often.
Where do I sell used books in Andover?
Nowhere in Andover itself. The one buyer in this guide is the Burlington superstore on Cambridge Street, which scans small loads at its front counter without an appointment, routes bigger hauls to a door at the back, and offers a single total in store credit, convertible to cash at 50 percent; it wants mostly titles from 2015 onward plus a short list of perennial sellers such as Stephen King, manga, graphic novels and Easton Press. Before handing over a whole carton, snap a photo of the shelf with BiblioScan: each spine it recognizes gets a live resale figure on screen, so the few books worth listing online come out of the box before the rest go to the counter or to a Friends donation day.
When is the Friends of the Library sale in Andover?
The Friends of Memorial Hall Library run the town's sales in Memorial Hall upstairs. After a fall sale from September 23 to 27, 2026, the next one is a single Saturday, December 5, aimed at gift-quality books and games, then a winter edition running Wednesday, January 27 through Sunday, January 31, 2027, with members admitted free on the opening night. Nearby, the Flint Memorial Library sale in North Reading runs from November 10 to November 14, 2026.
Which day is best for book hunting in Andover?
Saturday. The Wilmington Friends house opens that day and on Wednesday only, the Salem flea market across the New Hampshire line trades both weekend days, and Savers, the Burlington superstore and the libraries in Billerica and North Andover all open on Saturday between Labor Day and Memorial Day. Middleton's library is shut every Saturday, so leave it for a weekday or Sunday. Sunday loses the Wilmington house but keeps Savers, the superstore, the flea market and shorter afternoon hours at those two libraries, while North Andover's library closes on weekends in summer. Outside January and February, Wednesday is the only weekday the Wilmington Friends unlock their door.