The Kingston, Ontario stops on this page cluster in the old downtown and along Princess Street as it heads west. Berry & Peterson on King Street East and the Friends' counter in the main library on Johnson Street sit within a short walk of each other; the Goodway thrift store sits up Division Street, the Symphony volunteers' warehouse and a charity book sale on Earl Street lie between downtown and the west end, and Bookland holds the west end of Princess by Bayridge Drive. One stop sits in Amherstview, part of Loyalist Township, and its entry says so up front. The New York shore across the St. Lawrence isn't covered, and all dollar amounts quoted are Canadian.
Selling takes a little planning in this city. Bookland posted store-credit trade rules in 2022, Berry & Peterson is listed by the national antiquarian booksellers' association as a shop that buys, and the rest of the list runs on donations, so the stock you'll find on a charity table depends on what landed there that week.
The calendar matters more than usual. The Kingston Symphony Volunteers' fair ran for eleven days in September 2026, and its donation drives are held only in January and June, while the Kingston Grandmother Connection ran its own used book sale on September 19, 2026. Between those dates, the library's standing sale and the two independent bookshops do the steady work.
New and used bookstoreBookland
2800 Princess St, Kingston, ON K7P 1W9
Tucked into a strip mall where Princess Street meets Bayridge Drive, Bookland is, as Kingstonist put it on February 2, 2026, the only independent bookseller in the city's west end, and the paper reported that under owner Shervin Kaini it now sells an equal mix of new and used titles. He bought the shop in 2018, paid off the debts it ran up after the pandemic shutdowns with his share of a house sale in late 2025, and the paper described a seven-day-a-week business. Kaini claims the best horror section in town and one of the strongest classics sections, which is where a scout should start. Trades earn store credit under rules the shop posted on Facebook in September 2022 (clean copies, no textbooks, cookbooks, kids' or young adult titles), though the owner may pay cash for older science fiction, fantasy and horror in great condition or for larger estate collections.
Antiquarian and used bookshopBerry & Peterson Booksellers
348 King St E, Kingston, ON K7L 3B6
Downtown on King Street East, an open shop that belongs to the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Canada, whose member directory gives first editions and travel and exploration as its specialties and confirms that it buys books. Its Instagram account shows the stock turning over through 2026, with fresh stock headed for the philosophy section on August 18 and a batch of military history sorted on March 1, and on June 28, 2025 the shop propped both doors open with cheap books set outside. Its own directory blurb calls it the number-one used bookstore in Kingston and offers appraisals. Listed opening times disagree from one directory to the next, so phone 613-547-0767 before a special trip.
Charity book fairKingston Symphony Volunteers Book Fair
Kingston Symphony Warehouse, 785 Sir John A. Macdonald Blvd, Unit 7A, Kingston, ON K7L 1H3
Kingstonist called it the volunteers' annual book fair on August 28, 2026, quoting a release that promised 45 categories, a collectibles section with an unusual run of books about dogs, and a large science fiction and fantasy section. The 2026 run took over the Symphony warehouse from September 10 to 20, starting with a $25 early-entry half hour on opening night that sold out, then $5 admission for the rest of that evening and free entry on every later day. The group, some 200 volunteers, takes donations only in January and June, has already set nine drop-off mornings for January 2027, and turns away Harlequins, encyclopedias, textbooks, Reader's Digest condensed books and National Geographic. Its page says the 2024–2025 season of sales raised over $90,000 for the Symphony.
Hours: Last documented: September 10–20, 2026Website Friends of the Library shopFriends Book Shop, Central Branch
Central Branch, Kingston Frontenac Public Library, 130 Johnson St, Kingston, ON K7L 1X8
Inside the Central Branch on Johnson Street, the Friends of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library keep a standing book shop on the first floor where everything sells by donation, open whenever the branch is. The Friends posted on August 8, 2026 that their sales were short of children's and teen books, and they collect donations at the Calvin Park, Central and Isabel Turner branches. The library and the Friends also ran a Fall Book Sale in the building over two days on October 25 and 26, 2025, at $1 for a paperback or children's book, $2 for a hardcover or a DVD, or $10 a bag if you brought one.
Hours: Library hours: Mon–Thu 9am–8pm, Fri–Sat 9am–5pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Kingston?
Start at the Friends' shop in the main library, where books sell by donation six days a week, and watch the library calendar for a bag sale like the one it held in late October 2025. In September, the Symphony volunteers' fair and the Grandmother Connection's Earl Street sale are the two dates to circle. For thrift shelves, the Goodway on Division Street lists books among its donated stock, and a provincial health-services directory says the same of the Loyalist Community Sharing Centre in Amherstview.
Where do I sell used books in Kingston?
Bookland's 2022 Facebook rules offer store credit for trades, and cash for a few genres or larger estates, while the ABAC directory marks Berry & Peterson as a buyer. For a real rarity, Alan Foljambe, Bookseller buys by appointment. Sorting comes first. Stand the pile spine-out on a table and a BiblioScan shot of it tags each recognized spine with its resale value, and that split tells you which copies earn their own AbeBooks, eBay.ca, Kijiji, Amazon.ca or Facebook Marketplace listing and which can go over a counter.
Which day is best for book hunting in Kingston?
Saturday, if you want the library shop and a thrift store in one trip: the Central Branch opens 9am to 5pm and the Goodway on Division Street runs 9am to 4pm. On Sunday the library is closed but the Goodway opens at 10am, and Kingstonist reported in February 2026 that Bookland opens seven days a week. The Amherstview sharing centre keeps weekday hours only, and Berry & Peterson's published schedules disagree, so call it first.
When is the big book sale in Kingston?
In September. The Symphony volunteers held theirs from September 10 to 20 in 2026 at the Symphony warehouse on Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, and the volunteers collect the next year's stock in January and June. The Kingston Grandmother Connection's outdoor sale landed on September 27, 2025 and September 19, 2026. The library's most recent fall sale with bag pricing took up the weekend of October 25, 2025.