Shreveport's secondhand trail heads south out of downtown. All five stops sit inside the city limits, in Caddo Parish, between 2.4 and 5.9 miles from Government Plaza on Travis Street: a knot of them around Centenary College on Kings Highway, an antique mall a little farther down on Ockley Drive, a comic shop on East 70th in the Cedar Grove area, and The Thrifty Peanut out along Youree in the Century Park neighborhood. Bossier City, across the Red River, shares the metro but lost its big used-book chain store when 2nd & Charles shut in October 2025, and what it still offers a book hunter is small and hard to pin down.
Anyone hoping to turn boxes into cash should adjust expectations. The Youree Drive warehouse settles every trade-in with credit on account, and none of the shops here quotes a cash price for ordinary books, so for money the realistic route is listing online yourself.
The calendar has one fixed point for bulk buying, the Centenary Book Bazaar, whose 2026 edition ran over a mid-September weekend. Shreve Memorial Library's support page describes an annual April sale run by its Friends in the basement of the Downtown Branch, but says those sales are on hold while that building is remodeled.
Used books and mediaThe Thrifty Peanut Book & Media Warehouse
7600 Youree Dr, Shreveport, LA 71105
A family-owned book and media warehouse on Youree Drive in Century Park, 5.9 miles southeast of Government Plaza, whose website dates its book and media trading back to 2006. Books, CDs, video games, audiobooks, comics, DVDs, Blu-rays, vinyl and textbooks are all swapped for store credit, redeemable against the same category you brought in, and the FAQ caps a visit at five boxes unless you phone ahead. Veterans get 15% off every purchase and half off on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, while book purchases are final, with no refunds. The site's home page, as archived in August 2026, carries that same trade-in pitch, and its locations page lists this Youree Drive store and no other.
Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–7pmWebsite Rare and used books boothBeth the Book Lady at Kings Antiques
Kings Antiques, 133 Kings Hwy, Shreveport, LA 71104
A booth of rare and used books inside the Kings Antiques mall, roughly two and a half miles below downtown and about a block from the Centenary College gym that hosts the Book Bazaar. Its owner tells her own story on her website: born in Shreveport, two decades in Africa as a field botanist, then a book business started on her return to Louisiana in 1991. That site, as archived in June 2026, lists two retail locations, an eBay store and an Instagram account showcasing her collection. The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate profiled her on May 25, 2025, under the headline "'Beth the book lady' from Shreveport has had some adventures."
Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–5pmWebsite College book saleCentenary Book Bazaar
Centenary Fitness Center, 2911 Centenary Blvd, Shreveport, LA 71104
The Centenary Muses, a volunteer group that funds projects for Centenary College students, staged the 39th Centenary Book Bazaar across the Friday and Saturday of September 18–19, 2026, as the Bossier Press-Tribune announced on August 10, filling the college Fitness Center on Kings Highway, 2.4 miles south of Government Plaza. The college's own page counts more than 50,000 donated items in 70 categories, credits the sale with more than $1 million raised for Centenary, and says the Bazaar takes only cash and checks, with an ATM available on the premises. Everything went to half price after 1pm on the Saturday, the window for anyone filling boxes to resell. Gifts for the next edition arrive throughout the year at the Centenary Book House, 108 East Kings Highway, open Monday and Wednesday, 10am–3pm, and fitted with a drop box for after-hours donations.
Hours: Last documented: Fri Sep 18, 2026, 4pm–9pm; Sat Sep 19, 2026, 9am–4pm (half price from 1pm)Website Where can I find cheap used books in Shreveport?
Wait for the Centenary Book Bazaar if you can: tens of thousands of donated items in one gym, and at the 2026 edition everything went half price on the Saturday afternoon. Between bazaars, The Thrifty Peanut on Youree Drive is the volume option, and trading in your own books there stretches the budget further, since the credit goes toward more books.
Where do I sell used books in Shreveport?
Locally, mostly by trading: The Thrifty Peanut swaps books for credit toward more books, and Excalibur buys comics, keys and older issues in particular. Before you load the car, run the shelves through BiblioScan: one photo picks up every spine in frame and gives each title an estimated resale value, so the strong sellers go to eBay or Amazon and the leftovers become credit on Youree Drive.
Which day is best for book hunting in Shreveport?
Any day from Monday through Saturday lines up every shop on this list: The Thrifty Peanut and both Beth the Book Lady booths keep weekday-and-Saturday schedules, and Excalibur matches them. Sunday leaves only Excalibur, open for the afternoon, since Beth the Book Lady's site lists both of her booths as closed that day. The Book Bazaar weekend, whenever it comes around, beats all of them.
Are there any used book fairs in Shreveport?
One big one: the Centenary Muses' sale at the college, which in 2026 opened on a Friday evening and wound down by Saturday afternoon. Watch the college's Book Bazaar page for the next dates, and the Shreve Memorial Library home page for news of the Friends' sales once the Downtown Branch reopens.