This guide sticks to the Ontario side of the St. Marys River. Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, sits across the International Bridge with shops of its own, but everything below is on Canadian soil and inside the Ontario city limits. Downtown carries three of the five: the Friends of the Library rooms under the Centennial Library on East Street, The Rad Zone on Queen Street East a couple of hundred metres away, and the St. Vincent Place thrift counter on Albert Street East. The Skeleton Key sits out on Korah Road in the west end, and the Habitat ReStore opens onto Willow Avenue at Cambrian Mall in the north end. Dollar amounts on this page are Canadian.
Price levels shifted in 2026. After more than a decade at $3, the Skeleton Key moved most of its prices to $5 in mid-September 2026, keeping children's and teen titles lower, which leaves the library Friends' standard dollar at a fifth of the Korah Road rate.
Treat older listings with suspicion. The ReStore moved across town in November 2024 and changed its hours again when September 2026 began, the Skeleton Key keeps a three-day week and posts its closures on Facebook, and St. Vincent Place trades on weekdays alone.
Used bookstoresThe Skeleton Key Used Bookstore
288 Korah Rd, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
A secondhand bookshop out on Korah Road, about 3 km straight-line northwest of downtown, stocking paperbacks, trade-size editions and hardcovers in every genre, with vintage copies priced individually. On August 15, 2026 the owners told their Facebook followers that nine-tenths of the shelves had stayed at $3 since 2014, that rising gas prices on the drive in from St. Joseph Island, plus overhead, had made that hard to sustain, and that most books would cost $5 from September 17, with children's, youth and young adult titles largely held at $3. The owners open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11am until 5pm and use the same page to announce closures, as they did for Saturday, September 26, 2026.
Hours: Thu–Sat 11am–5pmWebsite Friends of the Library bookstoreFriends of the Library Bookstore
James L. McIntyre Centennial Library, 50 East St, Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 3C3
Three rooms downstairs in the Centennial Library, run by volunteers from a Friends group that dates to 1990, selling books, DVDs and CDs donated to the library or withdrawn from its collection. The library's Friends page prices most books at $1, children's books at three for $1, premium books at $2 and antiques and collectibles as marked, and a $5 yearly membership brings 10% off every purchase. The Friends' newsletter page in the library's spring 2026 bulletin put 2025 takings above $41,000, every cent handed to the library, and on July 2, 2026 the Sault Star announced the group's flea market and book sale in the building for July 16 to 18, with comics, DVDs and CDs on the tables too.
Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat 10am–4pmWebsite Habitat ReStoreHabitat for Humanity ReStore
44 Great Northern Rd (entrance off Willow Ave), Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6B 4Y5
A 20,000-square-foot space, offices included, run by Habitat for Humanity Sault Ste. Marie & Area at Cambrian Mall, reached from Willow Avenue next to the grocery store, with no door from inside the mall, according to SooToday's November 2024 tour when it replaced the White Oak Drive site. The ReStore's own posts lead with furniture, home decor and DIY supplies, yet a January 10, 2026 post pointed shoppers to its book shelves and the flyer for August 23 to 29, 2026 took half off every book. New opening hours took effect on September 1, 2026, with a late Thursday, the day the store also runs as Seniors Day, 15% off storewide for anyone 60 or older.
Hours: Mon–Wed 10am–6pm, Thu 10am–8pm, Fri–Sat 10am–6pm, Sun 10am–5pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Sault Ste. Marie?
The library Friends are the floor: a dollar for most adult books, three children's books for the same dollar, and on Saturdays members pay half of that on the $1 shelf. The ReStore is worth watching for flyer deals: its late-August 2026 flyer cut all books by 50%. The Skeleton Key is no longer the $3 shop it was, with most titles at $5 from September 17, 2026, but its children's and young adult shelves mostly stayed at $3. St. Vincent Place also sells donated books, Monday to Friday.
Where do I sell used books in Sault Ste. Marie?
Selling here is mostly do-it-yourself, since three of these five are charity outlets: list the good copies on Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace, or go wider with AbeBooks and Amazon.ca, plus eBay.ca for odd lots. Comic collections are the exception, since LockCityComics quotes by email for whole lots. What will not sell can go to the library Friends' red bins or to St. Vincent Place after a phone call. Point BiblioScan at the shelf once and each spine the app recognizes comes back tagged with its likely resale price, which sorts the listing pile from the donation box before anything leaves the house.
Which day is best for book hunting in Sault Ste. Marie?
Thursday, or Friday at a pinch. Those are the two days when all four shops with posted hours are open at once, and Thursday has the edge: the Skeleton Key opens its three-day week, the library Friends run until five, St. Vincent Place opens over the middle of the day, and the ReStore stays open until 8pm with its seniors' discount on top. Saturday keeps the Skeleton Key, the Friends and the ReStore but loses St. Vincent Place. On Sunday only the ReStore, of those four, has published hours, and from Monday to Wednesday the Skeleton Key is closed.
When is the big library book sale in Sault Ste. Marie?
The library Friends' big sales of 2025 and 2026 both coincided with Rotaryfest, the summer festival at Clergue Park near the library. The Sault Star reported the 2025 edition on July 17 to 19, open 10am to 5pm and closing at 4pm on the Saturday, and the 2026 one on July 16 to 18, both inside the downtown library building, and the Star's 2026 notice added comics, DVDs and compact discs to the books. For the next one, check the library's newsletter as summer approaches; between sales, the Friends' rooms downstairs are open six days a week.