None of the six addresses in this guide is a dedicated used bookshop, and that shapes how you hunt in Sarnia: the secondhand trade here runs through charity thrift racks and service-club sales. Two of the three St. Vincent de Paul branches sit in the city, on Vidal Street North downtown and on East Street South, about 1.5 km apart in a straight line, while the third stands in the St. Clair Township village of Corunna, a short walk from the Optimist Hall where the Moore club sells books. Downtown, the independent Choice Thrift on Christina Street North counts books among its stock as well, and the Rotary's winter sale fills a garden centre on London Line east of town. All the dollar figures that follow are Canadian, and everything listed is on the Ontario bank of the St. Clair River.
Two closures change older lists. The Sarnia Journal reported in June 2026 that Talize, the thrift chain that opened on Exmouth Street in August 2023, had shut that store on February 6, 2026. And the Salvation Army posted on September 24, 2026 that its thrift store at 122 Christina Street North would close for good on September 30, 2026, with donations halted from September 16; its sale of September 22 to 25 put novels and adult titles at $1 apiece and kids' books at half that.
Timing does most of the work in this market. The Optimists' next date is Saturday, October 3, 2026, billed by the club as its final book sale of the year, and the Sarnia-Bluewaterland Rotary starts taking donations for its 2027 edition on January 4 without having named the selling days. Between those, the St. Vincent de Paul racks are the constant, open six days a week in Corunna and on Vidal Street and five on East Street.
Service club book saleMoore Optimist Club Used Book Sale
Optimist Hall, 392 Lyndoch St (Hill Street entrance), Corunna, ON N0N 1G0
Down in Corunna, in St. Clair Township roughly 10 km south-southwest of downtown Sarnia in a straight line, the Optimist Club of Moore sells donated books at a dollar apiece through the Hill Street door of its hall in the OPP building. The Sarnia Journal previewed the October 3, 2026 edition on September 16, promising thousands of titles across fiction, mysteries and children's books, cash only, and the club's Facebook page calls it the last book sale of its year. Sarnia News Today has followed the series from a first run at the end of May 2025, stocked with about 5,000 donated books, through a September 2025 encore heavy on mysteries and westerns, to a May 30, 2026 sale that club president Steve Pilkey described as its second season, with about 2,000 of roughly 4,000 donated books left on the tables.
Hours: Saturday, October 3, 2026, 9am–1pmWebsite Rotary used book saleRotary Club of Sarnia-Bluewaterland Used Book Sale
DeGroot's Nurseries, 1840 London Line, Sarnia, ON
A winter sale laid out in the DeGroot's Nurseries garden centre on London Line, about 8 km east of downtown in a straight line, by the Rotary Club of Sarnia-Bluewaterland. The Observer put the count near 15,000 books on January 17, 2026, the second of five selling days that ran January 16 and 17, January 30 and 31, and an added fill-a-bag-for-$10 Saturday on February 7, and the club's own page puts the 2026 take above $59,000, a record. Sarnia News Today quoted $2 or $3 softcovers, $5 hardcovers and small children's titles two for $1, with categories set out on the tables but no alphabetical order, as the Observer noted. For 2027 the club says donated books are accepted at DeGroot's from January 4, with sale dates to be posted once they are set.
Hours: Last documented: February 7, 2026, 10am–4pmWebsite St. Vincent de Paul storeSt. Vincent de Paul East Street Thrift Store
106 East St S, Sarnia, ON N7T 3R1
East of downtown, one of the Sarnia-Lambton thrift shops of St. Vincent de Paul, whose proceeds go to its help centre and food bank as the branch puts it. On its Facebook page the branch listed books in an August 2025 summer sale with selected items at $1, and on August 24, 2026 it announced books, orange shirts and artwork ahead of Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30. Opening times depend on the source: the society's website gives Tuesday through Saturday, 10 until 5, while three of the store's own posts on August 24, 2026 add a break from noon to one.
Where can I find cheap used books in Sarnia?
On October 3, 2026 every book at the Moore Optimists' sale in Corunna goes for a dollar, and the thrift branch a few doors along Lyndoch Street put books at that price too during a sale on May 3, 2025. The Vidal Street store put books among its $1 items in May 2025. In January 2026 the Rotary sale at DeGroot's priced books between $1 and $5 and wound up with a Saturday where a stuffed bag cost $10, while the library's mini sales price everything at 25 cents when they appear on its events calendar.
Where do I sell used books in Sarnia?
None of these six addresses posts a price it pays for books, so locally the circuit runs on donations: the St. Vincent de Paul website says its stores take donations as well as shoppers, and the Rotary starts collecting at DeGroot's in the first days of 2027 ahead of its sale. For anything worth money, Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace reach Sarnia buyers, while buyers across the country shop Amazon.ca and AbeBooks, with eBay.ca as a third route. One photo of the pile standing spine-out, run through BiblioScan, puts a resale figure against every spine the app recognizes; whatever comes in under your threshold is the donation bag.
When is the big book sale in Sarnia?
It is the Rotary Club of Sarnia-Bluewaterland's winter sale at DeGroot's Nurseries on London Line. The 2026 edition sold on January 16 and 17 and again on January 30 and 31, then tacked on a clearance day on Saturday, February 7, and the club calls the result a record; leftovers went to Goodwill, Value Village, little libraries around the area and, for the first time, Canadian troops posted abroad. For 2027, the club says it will post the sale days once they are fixed. In the fall, the Optimist Club of Moore's Corunna sale, early in October 2026, is the date to mark.
Which day is best for book hunting in Sarnia?
Saturday, and Saturday, October 3, 2026 above all, when the Optimists open their hall in Corunna for the morning and the thrift branch up the block is trading as well. From Tuesday to Saturday all three St. Vincent de Paul shops are open, so a loop from Vidal Street to East Street and down to Corunna works on any of those days. Monday leaves Vidal Street and Corunna, since East Street is shut, and Sunday finds all three closed.