Four of the nine entries below sit within a third of a mile of downtown Bangor. Pro Libris stands on Third Street, the Antique Marketplace a fifth of a mile off on Main, and the Bangor Public Library a quarter of a mile beyond that on Harlow, so all three addresses fit one morning on foot. Everything after them wants a car: the Salvation Army store a mile and a quarter north up Broadway, Bull Moose a shade under three miles northeast on Hogan Road, and a resale floor on Wilson Street over the Penobscot in Brewer. Two more sit up the river in the college towns, Orono 7.4 miles out and Old Town 11, and where an entry falls outside the city its opening line names that town.
One week in February 2026 decided what this page looks like. Eric Furry had run Pro Libris since 1980; he died that January, and by the Bangor Daily News account of February 18 the shelves sat a day away from being sold off to a wholesaler when John Dixon and Fox Emm, who had heard the place was going on a Friday and held the keys by the following Wednesday, signed for it. Plan the selling side around that upheaval, because the counters here publish almost nothing. Bull Moose is the single address below with a written policy for buying off the public, subject by subject and money or bonus credit; Pro Libris handles local authors on consignment through a form whose replies are quoted at four to six weeks, while every other name below is a donation door.
Three habits send Bangor book hunters to the wrong building. Books-A-Million left its big shell on Bangor Mall Boulevard in 2024 for the Bangor Parkade on Stillwater Avenue, and the Bangor Daily News wrote on May 19, 2026 that First Pentecostal Church had bought the vacated property; the chain deals in new books either way. Half Price Books, the name a search like this usually surfaces first, carries no Maine entry on its own store finder, whose state list stops short of New England altogether. And two downtown storefronts get filed here rather than below. The Briar Patch on Central Street runs an online shop whose sections are new releases, paperback reissues, forthcoming titles, signed editions and Maine authors, with nothing secondhand among them, and it was promoting Independent Bookstore Day 2026 from the same menu. Lippincott Books at number 36 is the opposite case: its front page counts about 1,800 titles online out of more than 20,000 old and rare volumes, dates the business to 1975, and opens by appointment, so call before you go rather than turning up.
Used bookstoresPro Libris
10 3rd St, Bangor, ME 04401
Third Street where it meets Union, a short walk off West Market Square, and the shop the whole city braced to lose. The Bangor Daily News reported on February 18, 2026 that Eric Furry, who had opened it in 1980, died that January, that more than 30,000 books were a day from going to a wholesaler, and that John Dixon and Fox Emm took over instead, keeping the name, the black moor goldfish at the counter and a box of Moxie cans, with Emm writing a program hooked to a bar-code reader to work out what is actually in stock. The timetable changed with the ownership: the store closes Tuesday through Thursday, runs noon to six on Friday and ten to four Saturday through Monday, a grid its own site repeats. Nothing published there sets terms for buying off the public — the About page, updated in August 2026, covers local authors on consignment and puts a four-to-six-week wait on replies — so call 207-942-3019 before arriving with cartons.
Hours : Mon 10am–4pm, Fri noon–6pm, Sat–Sun 10am–4pm; closed Tue–ThuWebsite Buy, sell and trade media chainBull Moose
Maine Square Mall, 683 Hogan Rd, Bangor, ME 04401
Out at the Maine Square Mall on Hogan Road, just under three miles northeast of the center, the Bangor branch of an employee-owned Maine and New Hampshire chain whose About Us page describes a buy, sell and trade model for arts and entertainment media at discounted prices. Its buyback article is the one written counter policy on this page: staff want modern fiction, YA titles, manga and graphic novels, concede to being fussier about reference and hobby subjects such as cooking and travel, ask for minimal wear and unmarked interiors, generally decline book-club editions, and hand back cash or a store credit rated above that cash figure. That article covers every branch rather than this one, and nothing on the chain site sorts its book shelves by condition, so ask at the counter what the secondhand stock looks like the day you go. The chain posted to Instagram on June 12, 2026 that Mumford & Sons would appear at the Bangor store on the 16th, ahead of the band's amphitheater date that evening.
Hours : Mon–Sun 9am–10pmWebsite Antique mall with book dealersAntique Marketplace
65 Main St, Bangor, ME 04401
A fifth of a mile up from Pro Libris, under a red awning the store tells visitors to look for: two floors, more than 50 independent dealers by the home page count, and, on the books page, better than half a dozen mini bookstores under the one roof. That page splits the stock into children's, teen, self-help, literature and fiction, mystery, science fiction and fantasy, romance, large print and a rare-and-collectible shelf, which is why it behaves less like a single booth of leftovers than like several small shops sharing a register. Its frontage made the news on May 22, 2026, when the Bangor Daily News listed it among seven downtown businesses picked by the Downtown Bangor Partnership for up to $2,500 apiece, drawn from a $15,000 pot to which Hollywood Casino contributed $10,000. A large directory prints a Wednesday close an hour earlier than the store's own footer, so take the footer.
Hours : Mon–Fri noon–6pm, Sat 10am–6pm, Sun noon–5pmWebsite Permanent Friends shelfFriends of the Bangor Public Library lobby sale
Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St, Bangor, ME 04401
The Friends run a year-round sale in the lobby of the Harlow Street building, right beside the main stairs, and their page puts every volume on it at a dollar. Because the shelving sits inside the building instead of a rented room, it follows library time, and the library publishes two grids: ten to eight Monday through Thursday with ten to five Friday and Saturday for most of the year, then a summer block from June 15 until after Labor Day that closes at seven midweek and drops Saturday entirely. That same Friends page carries a notice that no further book donations will be accepted until after the fall sale of October 22 to 24, 2026, while the library's donation policy rules out textbooks, encyclopedias, magazines and obsolete manuals whatever the date. What people bring in supplies this shelf and the group's quarterly sales alike, in the library's own wording.
Hours : Mon–Thu 10am–8pm, Fri–Sat 10am–5pm; closed Sun (Jun 15–Labor Day: Mon–Thu 10am–7pm, Fri 10am–5pm; closed Sat–Sun)Website Where can I find cheap used books in Bangor?
Start at the library. Its volunteer Friends stock a lobby shelf beside the main stairs, nothing on it priced over a dollar, and it is browsable any hour the library itself is unlocked, which rules out Sunday all year, and Saturday as well once the summer grid begins in mid-June. Their fall weekend of October 22, 23 and 24, 2026 is the same operation at scale, with a bag sale closing out the Saturday. Old Town's is earlier still, 10am to 1pm on September 26, 2026. Away from those dates the thrift floors are the cheap end: the Salvation Army store on Broadway, Win-Win in Brewer and the Orono Thrift Shop all put books on their published donation lists, and all three price by volunteer judgment.
Where do I sell used books in Bangor?
Of everything listed here, only Bull Moose at the Maine Square Mall spells its terms out in writing. Its buyback page asks for graphic novels, manga, YA and modern fiction, admits to being pickier over reference and hobby titles, wants light wear and clean interiors, generally refuses book-club editions, and will pay in dollars or in credit worth a little more than the dollars, with a call recommended before a big load; that page covers the whole chain, so confirm at the Bangor register. Pro Libris changed hands in February 2026 and its site sets out no buying policy, only a consignment form for local authors answered in four to six weeks, so phone ahead. Every other address here takes donations only. Sort before you drive. Photograph one shelf; BiblioScan reads the spines it recognizes and attaches current resale prices to them. One minute of that separates the copies worth putting on a marketplace yourself from the crate you simply trade in.
When is the Friends of the Library sale in Bangor?
The Friends of the Bangor Public Library have set their fall sale for October 22 to 24, 2026, in the Laurence E. Crofutt Community Room and the atrium at 145 Harlow Street. The library's event listings open the Thursday from four until seven to members only, a year's membership available at the door for $10, then admit everyone on the Friday from ten until four and the Saturday from ten until three, the final two Saturday hours running as a $5 sack. The group's donation notice describes its sales as ongoing and quarterly, the ongoing part being the lobby shelf, and says nothing more will be taken in until the October dates are behind it. Out of season that shelf is the same operation, running without a break.
Which day is best for book hunting in Bangor?
Saturday wins outright, with one seasonal caveat. Pro Libris trades ten to four, the Antique Marketplace opens at ten instead of its usual noon, the Salvation Army store keeps ten to five, and both out-of-town stops put their weekend hours on that day, the Orono Thrift Shop open nine to two and closed every day but Wednesday otherwise; the library and its dollar shelf run ten to five as well, except in the summer stretch that ends with Labor Day, when the building takes the whole weekend off. Sunday still works for four: the Antique Marketplace, Bull Moose, Pro Libris and the Wilson Street floor. Tuesday is the one to avoid, with Pro Libris dark and Orono shut, and midweek only really pays if Orono is the point of the trip.