Palatine, Illinois, a Cook County village about 26 miles northwest of the Loop, does its used-book trade mostly through libraries. In the village itself, the Friends of the Palatine Library run a Book Nook in the Main Library, paid into a cash box, and have three sales dated for 2027. Around it, within about eleven miles, sit Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Mount Prospect, Wheeling, Des Plaines and Northbrook to the east and southeast, Schaumburg and Roselle to the south, Streamwood and Bartlett to the southwest, Lake Zurich to the north-northwest and Vernon Hills up Milwaukee Avenue.
The commercial side is small and spread out. Half Price Books has two branches in range, on Golf Road in Schaumburg and on Milwaukee Avenue in Vernon Hills, and both buy from the public at the counter. BookLady's Book Attic in Bartlett is a secondhand bookshop, while Commonplace in Lake Zurich, which announced a September 2026 preview and grand opening, and Jen's Art, Gifts & Books in Roselle mix used titles in with new ones.
The library groups are where the volume and the low prices are. Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Des Plaines and Northbrook keep standing Friends shelves or shops between sales; Mount Prospect, Wheeling and Northbrook hold dated sales through the end of 2026, Streamwood and Roselle hold sales their organizers call annual and semi-annual, last documented in January 2026, and five of these nine library stops have already posted 2027 dates.
Friends Book Nook and used book salesFriends of the Palatine Library Book Nook and sales
700 N North Ct, Palatine, IL 60067
At the Main Library on North Court, two-thirds of a mile north of Village Hall, the Friends keep a Book Nook by the North Entrance where gently used and discarded library books, comics, CDs and DVDs sell on trust: you leave your money in the cash box. Their October 2026 sale ran from a Friday evening preview on October 9, free for members and $5 for everyone else, to a half-price Sunday on October 11, and the Friends page has already dated the 2027 rounds for February 12 to 14, June 11 to 13 and October 8 to 10. Leave the scanner in the car on sale days, because that page states that handheld scanners or other devices used to scan books for resale are not allowed at Friends sales.
Hours: Library hours: Mon–Thu 9am–9pm, Fri 9am–6pm, Sat 9am–5pm, Sun noon–5pmWebsite Friends Used Book Shop and seasonal salesFriends of the Arlington Heights Memorial Library
500 N Dunton Ave, Arlington Heights, IL 60004
In the village of Arlington Heights, 3.5 miles east-southeast, the Friends, organized in 1968, run a Used Book Shop on the library's first floor where most adult items cost $1 and children's items 50 cents, and their library page says phones, laptops and scanners are allowed in that shop. The big sales follow stricter rules: the Friends' own sale page bans scanning on any device, then lists a Fall Sale with a members' night on Friday, November 6, 2026 and public days on November 7 and 8, followed by a Holiday Sale on Saturday, December 5. Many of their sales close with an $8 bag deal on the Sunday, and an individual membership, which gets you into members' nights, costs $5.
Hours: Library hours: Mon–Fri 9am–9pm, Sat 9am–5pm, Sun noon–6pmWebsite Chain used bookstore with a buy counterHalf Price Books Schaumburg
1075 E Golf Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173
Four miles south on Golf Road in the village of Schaumburg, this Half Price Books branch stocks used books, and its store page says every store except the chain's outlets will buy books, music and some electronics off the public at its Buy Counter. The page also advertises a Zine Making Night and zine swap every month on its third Thursday from 6pm to 8pm, while an Internet Archive snapshot of it dated December 1, 2025 shows the same Golf Road address and phone number, (847) 995-0240. When the shelf lacks a title, staff at the info desk can look it up at other branches and have it shipped in for pickup.
Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–8pm, Sun 11am–7pmWebsite Friends seasonal book salesFriends of the Mount Prospect Public Library Book Sales
10 S Emerson St, Mount Prospect, IL 60056
Six miles east-southeast in downtown Mount Prospect, the Friends spread their Fall Book Sale of October 17 and 18, 2026 over three parts of the library: individually priced better books, vinyl and games in Meeting Room A, $1 hardcovers and 50-cent paperbacks in the lower-level Friends Room, and a 25-cent area on the parking garage level. The sale page puts it plainly, "Scanners welcome", with resellers permitted as long as they only take books off the tables they mean to buy. Their events page follows it with a Holiday and Gift Sale on Saturday, November 14, then dates the 2027 winter, spring and summer sales for January 23 and 24, April 24 and 25 and July 17 and 18.
Hours: Next sale: Sat Oct 17 – Sun Oct 18, 2026: Sat 9am–4:30pm, Sun 11am–4pmWebsite Friends bookshop and quarterly salesFriends of the Northbrook Public Library Used Bookshop
1201 Cedar Ln, Northbrook, IL 60062
Eleven miles east in the village of Northbrook, the Friends run a Used Bookshop at the library's west entrance with fiction, nonfiction, coffee table books and paperbacks, priced from $1 to $9 a title and 25 cents a paperback; when no volunteer is on duty, payment goes in a secure box on the door. Their quarterly sales fill the Civic Room in the lobby near the west entrance, with the next on Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24, 2026, and four more set for 2027, beginning January 29 and 30. Each sale opens with a members-only Thursday evening, and the Friends spell out the rule: "No scanning or bulk buying is permitted on Thursday nights," while "Resellers are welcome to shop on Friday and Saturday."
Hours: Mon–Thu 9am–9pm, Fri 9am–6pm, Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 1–5pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Palatine?
The bottom of the price range is in the library sales. Mount Prospect sets out a 25-cent area on its parking garage level, Indian Trails charges 25 cents for children's books, and the Rolling Meadows shop marks books from 25 cents to a dollar. Northbrook's bookshop sells paperbacks at 25 cents each, and the Arlington Heights shop keeps most adult items at $1. For a half-price day, the Palatine Friends' October 2026 sale finished with a Sunday on which every item went for half its marked price.
Where do I sell used books in Palatine?
The buy counters are at Half Price Books in Schaumburg and Vernon Hills, whose store pages invite the public to bring books, music and certain electronics to the Buy Counter. Before you haul boxes there, photograph each shelf in BiblioScan, which names the books whose spines show in the shot and gives a secondhand price for every one of them, letting you list the best of them on eBay or Amazon yourself and take only the rest to the counter. Whatever is left can go to the Palatine Friends as a donation for their next sale.
When is the Friends of the Library sale in Palatine?
The Palatine Friends sell in their own library building; their October 2026 sale ended on October 11, and the next three fall in February, June and October 2027, starting Friday, February 12. Nearby, Northbrook sells on October 23 and 24, 2026, Mount Prospect follows its October sale with a holiday sale on November 14, Arlington Heights runs its Fall Sale from November 6 to 8 and its Holiday Sale on December 5, and Indian Trails in Wheeling holds a Holiday Gift Sale on December 6.
Which day is best for book hunting in Palatine?
Any day from Wednesday to Saturday works: every shop and Friends shelf with posted hours is open, and all of them overlap between 11am and 3pm, the window Jen's keeps. On Saturday both Half Price Books branches open 10am to 8pm and Commonplace 10am to 5pm, and the libraries in Palatine, Des Plaines, Rolling Meadows, Northbrook and Arlington Heights all open their Friends shelves from 9am to 5pm. On Sunday the libraries open only in the afternoon, from noon in Palatine, Arlington Heights and Rolling Meadows and from 1pm in Des Plaines and Northbrook, while Commonplace closes at 3pm. Avoid Monday and Tuesday if Lake Zurich is on your list, since Commonplace opens Wednesday through Sunday.