Kawartha Lakes is one sprawling municipality in Ontario's lake country, and its secondhand book trade gathers in two places. Most of it is in Lindsay, the seat of the city: Kent Bookstore and A Buy & Sell Shop stand a short walk apart downtown, the library hosts its Friends' sales at 190 Kent Street West, and three charity shops sit south and west of the core. The rest is in Bobcaygeon, roughly 25 km northeast of downtown Lindsay in a straight line, where a museum book shop and a Main Street boutique are under 400 m apart. Amounts are given in Canadian dollars throughout.
Two changes make older listings unreliable. Kent Bookstore changes hands in early October 2026, with the details in its entry below. The Humane Society's Second Chance thrift store moved after 13 years and has traded from Reeds Plaza on Kent Street West since February 2026, so any directory still pointing at the old door is out of date.
New and used bookstoreKent Bookstore
15 William St N, Unit 1, Lindsay, ON K9V 3Z9
Closed September 28 to October 1, 2026 for a change of ownership; reopening Friday, October 2.
Downtown on William Street North, beside the Shoppers Drug Mart, an independent that sells new and used books, has been open since 1993 and runs a trade scheme it calls the Recycle Program. Gently used books earn credit averaging about $1 a title, more for recent ones and less for old ones, which then pays half of any purchase in the store, special orders included, and stays on file for two years after your last visit; hardcovers more than a year past publication are refused, and whatever the shop can't use is sorted for charity. Buy three used books and the fourth is free. On September 25, 2026 the owners wrote on Facebook that they were retiring after 33 years and passing the shop to a new owner, with reopening set for Friday, October 2, so ask at the counter whether the credit terms carry over.
Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat 10am–4pmWebsite Friends of the Library saleFriends of the Lindsay Library Branch Book Sales
Lindsay Branch, Kawartha Lakes Public Library, 190 Kent St W, Lindsay, ON K9V 2Y6
Sales held inside the Lindsay branch by its Friends, a volunteer charity started in 1999 whose takings pay for special projects and programs at this library. The Kawartha Lakes Public Library events calendar lists six dates for the rest of 2026, paired by month: October 20 and 24, November 17 and 21, then December 12 and 15, with the Tuesday sessions running two hours longer. Individual membership costs $10 a year and comes with pre-sale viewings, and the group welcomes donated books in saleable condition, apart from textbooks and Reader's Digest volumes.
Hours: Tue October 20, November 17 and December 15, 2026, 10:30am–5pm; Sat October 24, November 21 and December 12, 2026, 10:30am–3pmWebsite Humane Society thrift storeSecond Chance Thrift Store
232 Kent St W, Unit 4, Lindsay, ON
A volunteer-run shop in Reeds Plaza whose sales fund the Humane Society of Kawartha Lakes, which moved it here in February 2026 for a larger floor, extra parking and more visibility in the downtown shopping district. Stock is donated, and the society's list of accepted items names paperbacks alongside DVDs while turning away textbooks, encyclopedias and magazines, so expect reading copies rather than reference sets. Kawartha 411 reported on March 5, 2026 that the society would mark one month at the new site with 10 percent off storewide on the morning of Tuesday, March 10. Donors are asked to phone or email for a drop-off slot and never to leave bags outside after closing.
Hours: Tue–Fri 10am–4pm, Sat 10am–3pmWebsite Museum book shopSheila's Book Shoppe (Boyd Heritage Museum)
21 Canal St E, Bobcaygeon, ON K0M 1A0
In Bobcaygeon, inside the 1889 Boyd building on Canal Street East, where the heritage museum sells donated books to pay its running costs. The home page prices every book at $2 and puzzles at $3, and the museum's Fall 2025 newsletter, posted October 30, 2025, describes tables sorted by type — fiction, non-fiction, Canadian and so on — set out in the rooms the library once used, with Thursday to Saturday the busiest days. That same home page carries two schedules, a daily 10am to 4pm grid and an undated notice that from September 28 the book shop keeps Wednesday to Saturday mornings, 10am to 1pm, once tours stop, so phone before driving up.
Where can I find cheap used books in Kawartha Lakes?
The one flat price published on this page is the Boyd Heritage Museum's in Bobcaygeon, whose home page puts every book at $2. In Lindsay, the library's Friends put donated stock out on six dates between October 20 and December 15, 2026, and Kent Bookstore gives a fourth used book free when you buy three. Second Chance, Vicky's Values and Mission Thrift all sell donated books alongside clothing and housewares, with Mission open latest in the day, until 6pm Monday to Saturday.
Where do I sell used books in Kawartha Lakes?
Two downtown Lindsay counters will deal. Kent Bookstore trades books for store credit worth about $1 each on average, spendable against half of any purchase, and turns down hardcovers older than a year; A Buy & Sell Shop, which shelves books among its secondhand stock, pays cash to sellers 18 and over with photo ID on days its buyer is in, though its selling page names no categories, so call before hauling boxes. Do the sorting before the drive downtown: from one snap of the bookcase, BiblioScan tags every spine with what it would likely fetch resold, and that split decides which copies you post on Kijiji or Amazon.ca yourself and which ones Kent turns into credit.
Which day is best for book hunting in Kawartha Lakes?
Saturday. Every Lindsay shop listed here opens then, Vicky's Values excepted on long weekends, both Bobcaygeon stops are open on either of the Boyd museum's schedules, and the Friends hold three of their six 2026 sale days on Saturdays. Sunday is thin: The Gallery's fall hours include it, as does the Boyd museum's daily grid if that one still applies, and on Mondays only Kent Bookstore and Mission Thrift are open in Lindsay.
When is the big library book sale in Kawartha Lakes?
The Kawartha Lakes Public Library says three of its branches have Friends groups running book sales, but only the Lindsay group has dates on the calendar: Tuesdays October 20, November 17 and December 15, 2026, from 10:30am to 5pm, and Saturdays October 24, November 21 and December 12, from 10:30am to 3pm, all at 190 Kent Street West. Pre-sale viewings come with membership, which costs one person $10 a year. Proceeds go to projects and programs at the Lindsay branch.