Flagstaff keeps its secondhand books in a short arc across the middle of town, and the whole of it fits inside three and a half miles. Bookmans, the page's single buying counter, stands a mile southwest of the center on Riordan Ranch Street just off Milton Road. The Downtown Library on Aspen Avenue is the hinge, under 200 yards from the town center, and Hodge Podge sits east of it along Switzer Canyon Drive. The last two are further out: Cedar Closet northeast on West Street in the Sunnyside neighborhood and Sharon's Attic east-northeast on North Fourth Street, both a shade over two miles from the middle.
Work out what each door is for before you set off, because one of the five makes offers and four do not. Bookmans takes trade at its counter without a booking and pays either money or a store credit that the chain says has no expiry. The three thrift rooms price volunteer-sorted donations instead: Sharon's Attic publishes a month of discount days and hands Friday to books, Cedar Closet gives books, puzzles and CDs a department of their own but unlocks the door for four hours a day across three days, and Hodge Podge names books when it appeals for stock. The volunteers who run the public library's own sales sit between the two models, selling donated books inside the library through the year and clearing a much bigger floor over three days in August 2026.
Two older signposts will send you wrong. Starrlight Books, the used shop that book directories still place at 15 N Leroux St, shares that address with Insomnia Cookies in the Flagstaff Downtown Business Alliance directory, and the starrlightbooks.com domain lands on the books shelf of Amusespot, a home and barware catalog reachable on the same 702.857.8212 line that those directories print for the bookshop. Bright Side Bookshop stands 0.30 miles from the library on San Francisco Street and describes its own shelves on its About page as new fiction, non-fiction, young adult and children's titles. Neither Arizona branch that Half Price Books puts on its state page is remotely close either, with Phoenix 112 miles south of here and Mesa 125.
Arizona entertainment exchangeBookmans Flagstaff Entertainment Exchange
1520 S Riordan Ranch St, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
A mile southwest of the Downtown Library on Riordan Ranch Street off Milton Road, part of an Arizona group whose other exchanges trade in Tucson, Phoenix and Mesa; the chain's own calendar had this branch running free kids events at one in the afternoon on Wednesdays from June 3 to July 22, 2026. Its buying rules are published rather than improvised: staff judge a deal on customer demand, on what the shelves already hold and on condition, sort it while you browse, then come back with an offer payable as money or as Bookmans trade credit, which the company says spends like cash at any of its stores and never expires. Comics, magazines, music, video games, movies, instruments, electronics and housewares cross that counter as readily as books do, and the firm warns that every store mirrors its own town, so what it wants shifts from branch to branch and day to day. Trading needs no appointment and walk-ins go straight up, but anyone arriving with a lot of boxes, an entire collection or an estate to clear is asked to phone the store and fix a dedicated slot.
Hours : Sun–Thu 9am–8pm, Fri–Sat 9am–9pmWebsite Friends of the Library salesFriends of the Flagstaff Public Library Book Sales
Flagstaff City-Coconino County Public Library, 300 W Aspen Ave, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
The main branch on Aspen Avenue, 200 yards off the town center, is where a volunteer group turns donated stock into library funding; the library's donations policy sends surplus gifts to what it calls an on-going Friends book sale at the Downtown Library, plus the periodic weekend sales staged in the Community Room. The big one was announced by the library on August 12, 2026 and ran Friday, August 21 from 9am to 5:30pm, Saturday, August 22 from 9am to 4:30pm and Sunday, August 23 from 9am to 12:30pm, with a members-only preview between 6pm and 8pm on the Thursday and tables of books, magazines, movies and music at 300 W. Aspen Ave. Smaller rounds break up the rest of the calendar, among them an Open Box sale of unsorted donation cartons that the Flagstaff Downtown Business Alliance put on its calendar for Saturday, May 9, 2026, flat-priced at $2 for a hardcover and $1 for a paperback. The grid given here is the library's own timetable, since that is when the standing shelves can be reached.
Hours : Library hours: Mon–Thu 9am–8pm, Fri 9am–6pm, Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 9am–1pmWebsite Nonprofit thrift storeSharon's Attic Thrift Store
1926 N 4th St, Ste 5, Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Two and a quarter miles east-northeast of the middle of Flagstaff in a Fourth Street suite, open since 2014 and run by Housing Solutions to fund Sharon Manor transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence, by the charity's own account. Books get their own line on the weekly sales list the store posts under its September 2026 calendar: Friday takes a quarter off children's clothing, books and toys, Saturday cuts the entire shop by half, and Sunday halves clothing alone. The earlier part of the week goes to furniture, lamps and area rugs on Tuesday, to military, first responders and healthcare workers on Wednesday, and to anyone aged 55 or older on Thursday, the last two of those against an ID. The shop also pulls in other people's traffic: it hosted the live prize drawing that closed the 2026 Flagstaff Thrift Crawl at 5:15pm on August 15.
Hours : Tue–Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 10am–5pm; closed MonWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Flagstaff?
Start with the nonprofit rooms, where volunteers rather than a market set the ticket. Sharon's Attic out on Fourth Street knocks a quarter off children's books each Friday and halves the entire shop on Saturday, per the weekly sales list under its September 2026 calendar. Cedar Closet up in Sunnyside runs a Books, Puzzles and CDs department, though its door is open for just four hours a day, Thursday to Saturday. Hodge Podge on Switzer Canyon Drive asked for books by name in its donations appeal of August 14, 2026, and the Friends' unsorted cartons on May 9, 2026 priced every paperback at a dollar.
Where do I sell used books in Flagstaff?
Bookmans at 1520 S Riordan Ranch St is the counter for it, and on this page it is the only one. Its buyers weigh customer demand, what the store already carries and the state of your copies, sort the pile while you browse, then offer either money or Bookmans trade credit, which the chain says spends like cash across its stores and never expires. Walking in unannounced is fine for a normal load, while a big haul, a private library or an estate is supposed to be arranged by phone with the branch first. Before the drive, let the shelf do the talking: a single photo run through BiblioScan returns what each identified title is fetching secondhand, which decides who gets your good copies and who gets the rest.
When is the Friends of the Library sale in Flagstaff?
The Friends of the Flagstaff Public Library hold theirs inside the Downtown Library at 300 W. Aspen Ave. The library announced the 2026 edition on August 12: members only from 6pm to 8pm on Thursday, August 20, then three public days that each opened at nine and closed at 5:30pm on the Friday, 4:30pm on the Saturday and 12:30pm on the Sunday, with books, magazines, movies and music laid out on tables. Between editions the group runs smaller rounds, among them a flat-priced Open Box sale of unsorted cartons that the downtown business alliance dated to Saturday, May 9, 2026. The Friends also sell books and gift items on a continuing basis, so with no sale posted the library clock is the answer.
Which day is best for book hunting in Flagstaff?
Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the three days when all five stops open together, and Saturday is the pick of them: Bookmans keeps its late Friday and Saturday clock through to nine in the evening, the Downtown Library holds 9am to 5pm, Sharon's Attic halves its whole floor, and Cedar Closet's narrow Thursday-to-Saturday window is still live. Sunday loses Cedar Closet and cuts the library back to 9am to 1pm; Monday is the one to skip altogether, with Sharon's Attic and Cedar Closet both shut. Midweek belongs to Bookmans and the library, each of which stays open to 8pm from Monday through Thursday.