Geelong keeps its secondhand books in three pockets and a couple of outliers. The CBD holds a walkable triangle: Read Heeler on Moorabool Street, Books Around under 24 James Street and the Lifeline shop that opened on Gheringhap Street in August 2026, none of them more than 400 metres from the next. Pakington Street in Geelong West carries the Uniting op shop and, further south, the Town Hall where the Rotary fairs are held, while North Geelong has Savers on Melbourne Road and The Arena, and Newcomb has the Mill Markets on the Bellarine Highway. Anything away from the CBD states its suburb before anything else, dollar amounts are Australian, and Melbourne, some 65 km to the north-east, is covered on its own page.
A few names on the map will send you the wrong way. The Griffiths Bookstore listing on Ryrie Street belongs to Popcultcha, a pop-culture collectables business whose own site says it took over the historic bookshop building and stocks it with Funko Pops, records, graphic novels and action figures, with no mention of secondhand books. The Book Bird in Pakington Village, Dymocks and Where the Books Are in Ocean Grove sell new stock, and the Ankh Antiquarian Books listing that turns up in Geelong searches sits at 88 Garden Road in Clayton, on the Melbourne side of the bay. What the region does have is a charity fair calendar with two organisers: the Geelong West Rotary club ran two fairs in 2026 and has already published dates for February 2027, and St Bernard's parish in Belmont holds an annual book fair, most recently in May 2026.
Used bookstoresRead Heeler Bookshop Geelong
192 Moorabool St, Geelong VIC 3220
A secondhand shop in the CBD and the Geelong offshoot of an Echuca bookseller whose Facebook page dates the original store to 1998; that page announced the Moorabool Street branch in October 2020. Forte Magazine's June 2021 roundup reckoned much of the shelf stock sold for under $10, with the cheap range running from sci-fi comics to Wombat Stew. The Instagram book account eshreadspages called the shelves well stocked after a weekend visit in mid-September 2026, and a May 2025 post from another account flagged CDs, vinyl and games alongside the books. With no website to check, the hours shown come from that 2020 opening post, and a business directory still lists the same week.
Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–5:30pm; closed Sun
Used bookstoresBooks Around: Secondhand Book Merchant
24 James St, Geelong VIC 3220
A family-run secondhand merchant in an old basement at 24 James Street, which What's On in Geelong described in June 2025 as a run of corridors and hidden rooms, restocked daily. The same write-up listed shelves from highbrow to horror, with sport, food and wine, craft, gardening, poetry, art, deep history and biography, and a large section of classic and current children's titles. Its Facebook page is where closures get announced, such as the Christmas break posted in December 2025 that shut the doors from 25 December until Wednesday 7 January 2026. What's On and one directory agree on Tuesday to Saturday trading, but another directory still shows Monday hours, so don't plan a Monday visit around it.
Hours: Tue–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat 10am–2pm; closed Sun–MonWebsite Rotary book fairGeelong Book Fair (Rotary Club of Geelong West)
Geelong West Town Hall, 153 Pakington St, Geelong West VIC 3218
In Geelong West, the Town Hall on Pakington Street is where the Rotary Club of Geelong West stages its Geelong Book Fair, and the club's website gives the next one as Friday 19 to Sunday 21 February 2027. Its Facebook posts put the two 2026 editions on 20–22 February and on 31 July–2 August, and the club president told the Geelong Times in July 2026 that it loves holding the fair twice a year, with gold-coin entry, children's books at $1 and everything else at $2 both times. The club reported on Instagram in August 2026 that the winter edition had moved roughly 25,000 books and raised $34,000 for local, national and international projects. Stock is donated and sorted at Rotary House in North Geelong, where the club wants fiction first, then non-fiction and kids' books, and refuses magazines and encyclopaedias.
Hours: 19–21 February 2027Website Indoor collectables marketThe Amazing Mill Markets Geelong
114 Bellarine Hwy, Newcomb VIC 3219
In Newcomb, on the Bellarine Highway some 4 km out of the CBD towards the south-east, this indoor market spreads more than 180 stallholders over two levels, with free entry and parking and doors open every day except Christmas Day. The operator names books among its furniture, records, vintage clothing and china, and the Newcomb stall directory bears it out in pieces: a costume stall with DVDs and books, others with western novels, coffee table books or retro gaming books among the collectables. Because the books are scattered across dealers rather than gathered in one stall, give yourself time for both floors. The events page has a Fright Night booked for Saturday 31 October 2026.
Hours: Daily 10am–6pm; closed Christmas DayWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Geelong?
Start with the Rotary fair at Geelong West Town Hall whenever it is on: in 2026 the club charged a gold coin at the door, $1 for children's books and $2 for the rest, and it has set 19 to 21 February 2027 for the next one. Between fairs, Forte Magazine's 2021 roundup found plenty of Read Heeler's Moorabool Street stock priced in single digits, and Savers in North Geelong said in August 2026 that most of its items sell for less than that. The Lifeline shop on Gheringhap Street and the Uniting op shop on Pakington Street both list books among their donated stock.
Where do I sell used books in Geelong?
Mostly on your own account: list for collection on Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace, ship further with eBay.com.au and Amazon.com.au, and hand the leftovers to the Rotary sorting shed in North Geelong. Before any of that, snap the shelf in BiblioScan: it matches every spine it recognises in the photo to a resale figure, so the few titles worth your listing time stand apart from the donation pile. Secondary school textbooks are the exception, since Secondhand School Supplies sells them on consignment and passes half of each sale, about a third of the retail price, back to the seller.
When is the big book sale in Geelong?
Two, run by different charities. The Rotary Club of Geelong West's Geelong Book Fair fills the Town Hall at 153 Pakington Street, with the next edition on Friday 19, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 February 2027 per the club's website; in 2026 it ran in February and again from 31 July to 2 August, and the club said afterwards that tens of thousands of books had gone home with buyers. The other is St Bernard's annual parish fair at Clairvaux School Hall in Belmont, which the Geelong Times previewed with more than 15,000 titles for Sunday 17 May 2026; the parish has not yet posted a 2027 date.
Which day is best for book hunting in Geelong?
Tuesday to Friday, when all five permanent stops with published hours are open and Books Around trades until 5pm. Saturday gives you the same five, but the basement shuts at 2pm. Monday is the weak day for the bookshops, since Books Around is shut, and Sunday leaves you with Lifeline, Savers and the Mill Markets. For the fairs, the calendar decides: the Comic & Toy Fair is on Sunday 22 November 2026 and the Rotary fair opens on Friday 19 February 2027.
Which op shops have books in Geelong?
Three have said so for their own branch. Lifeline's Gheringhap Street shop listed books in its August 2026 opening posts, Savers named books when it announced the North Geelong store that same month, and Uniting's Geelong West page points shoppers to its books, art and music beyond the clothing. Elsewhere in the region the charity websites describe their shops in generic terms, so the other branches are a matter of luck.