Where to buy used books in Thunder Bay

Updated 9/28/2026

Waverley Library, home of the Friends' used bookstore, closes to the public after Sunday, November 22, 2026 for a renovation, per Thunder Bay Public Library (August 21, 2026).

Thunder Bay, Ontario, keeps its secondhand print in two cores several kilometres apart. Up in the north core, the old Port Arthur side, three stops cluster inside roughly 700 metres: Hill City Comics on Court Street South, the Friends of the Thunder Bay Public Library store inside Waverley Library, and SuperThrift on Johnson Avenue. The Bookshelf and Twice As Nice hold the south core, on Victoria Avenue East and May Street North, and The Junk Zone trades from an industrial strip on Alloy Drive, between the two. All the dollar amounts quoted are Canadian.

Of the six stops here, one swaps books for credit on its own shelves. The Bookshelf asks sellers to bring in their old copies for an examination paid out in store credit, and in November 2025 it warned that books left in a vehicle for a few hours in the cold can't be processed straight away. The Friends and SuperThrift run on donations, which is where a box of culls can go when nobody will trade for it. Copies with collector value are worth a private listing, on Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji locally, or further afield on Amazon.ca and AbeBooks.

Two dates can trip up an older list. Thunder Bay Public Library announced on August 21, 2026 that Waverley Library will stop serving the public after November 22 for a renovation, and said arrangements for the closure would be posted ahead of November 23; the Friends' store is in that building. And a CBC story from April 2014 about a Thunder Bay used bookstore called The Bookshelf closing after 14 years concerns a different shop at May and Miles streets, not the one on Victoria Avenue East.

Spot map

The best spots

Used bookstores

The Bookshelf

620 Victoria Ave E, Thunder Bay, ON P7C 1A9

A used bookstore in the south core that shares its website with The Gameshelf under the Off The Shelf name. Its own site invites sellers to bring in old books, which staff look over and pay for in credit toward the shop's shelves. A Facebook post on November 6, 2025 added the winter caveat: copies that have sat in a vehicle for more than a couple of hours cannot be processed right away, because the binding glue freezes and cracks. On December 22, 2025 the same page listed closures for Christmas Day and New Year's Day, with regular hours in between.

Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–10pm, Sat noon–10pm, Sun noon–5pmWebsite
Friends of the Library bookstore

Friends of the Thunder Bay Public Library Used Bookstore

Waverley Library, 285 Red River Rd, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 1A9

Last public day at Waverley Library: November 22, 2026; per Thunder Bay Public Library, the Friends' bookstore is to return to Waverley once the renovation is done, and service arrangements for the closure are to be posted before November 23.

The volunteer Friends group announced a grand opening for this room inside Waverley Library, a former office space, on December 1, 2025, and TBNewsWatch noted that the store had earlier stints in the Brodie Street branch and the former Victoriaville Centre. Volunteer Pam Cain told the outlet that prices run from $1 to roughly $10, and a Friends video post on July 21, 2026 pointed to fiction, crafting, cooking, history and chess, a children's section, and DVDs, CDs, audiobooks on CD and vinyl. Hours here follow the library's Friends page, while the TBNewsWatch piece of December 8, 2025 printed an 11am start on Wednesday and Thursday plus Sunday hours. Book donations in good condition are accepted at the branch, which stays open to the public only until November 22, 2026.

Hours: Mon–Tue 10am–4pm, Wed–Thu 10am–7pm, Fri 10am–4pm, Sat 11am–2pmWebsite
SuperThrift (Adult & Teen Challenge)

Adult & Teen Challenge SuperThrift

107 Johnson Ave, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 2V9

A charity thrift store in the north core whose takings support Adult & Teen Challenge, under 700 metres from Waverley Library and Court Street. On February 24, 2026 its Facebook page put every white-tagged item at half price and listed books among the bargains, next to clothing and home décor. The store's website sets the donation window at Monday to Saturday, 9:30am to 5:30pm, and gives a separate line for booking large furniture pickups.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–6pmWebsite

All spots by type

Used bookstores

Comic shop with back issues

Hill City Comics & Cards

26 Court St S, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 2W5

A Court Street South comic shop whose About page claims more than 32 years in business and online sales since 1997, with graphic novels, manga, games and figures beside the comics. For sourcing, the draw is the back-issue side: the Vintage Comics section of its web store held 1,307 items in September 2026, graded from fair to near mint, with Dell, Gold Key, Charlton, Harvey and Classics Illustrated runs and 1970s Amazing Adventures issues at $4.50 to $7. On December 18, 2025 the shop's Facebook page posted its holiday store hours and reminded readers that the website never takes a day off. Plan a weekday visit, because the counter is shut on Saturday and Sunday.

Hours: Mon–Wed 9:30am–5pm, Thu 9:30am–7pm, Fri 9:30am–5pm; closed Sat–SunWebsite
Vintage and collectibles store

The Junk Zone ft. Spins Record Shop

938 Alloy Dr, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 6A4

A retro, vintage and collectibles store on Alloy Drive, about 600 metres from the Memorial Avenue thrift pair, with Spins Record Shop under the same roof. The print shelf of its online catalogue counted 96 comic books, 66 magazines and three graphic novels in September 2026, running from a 1992 Spawn #1 at $50 to mid-1990s Heavy Metal special issues at $5 apiece. Its Facebook page kept posting finds through September 2026, a record roundup on September 21 among them, and online orders from locals are collected at Alloy Drive the following Saturday. Loc8NearMe lists Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, but the shop posts no opening grid itself, so confirm before driving out.

Thrift stores & charity shops

Volunteer thrift store (school fundraiser)

Twice As Nice Thrift Store

250 May St N, Thunder Bay, ON P7C 3P8

A volunteer-run thrift store on May Street North, about 500 metres from The Bookshelf, which its own history page says opened in 1997 and hands all proceeds to Thunder Bay Christian School. Books are on its shelves according to the 211 Ontario North listing for this store, last verified on September 21, 2026, which describes low-cost secondhand clothing, household furnishings, furniture and books, and the store's donation page lists books and magazines as welcome gifts. Fresh stock kept turning up on its Facebook page through 2026, from a boxed Jim Henson DVD set at $10 on April 16 to a Christmas room set up in mid-August.

Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–4:30pm, Sat 11am–4pmWebsite

Scan before you buy

At every one of these spots, snap the shelf with BiblioScan: the AI identifies each book and shows its real resale price. Walk out with profitable books, not random boxes.

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Local sourcing tips

  • The Friends of the Library also run Toonie Tote pop-ups, $2 per tote, in a mall unit across from County Park Library on Dawson Road. The library calendar placed the latest round in mid-September 2026, and the Friends' Facebook posts and events show earlier ones in late November 2025, late February, April and June 2026. Neither that calendar nor the Friends' Facebook page showed a next date on September 28, 2026, so check both before counting on one.
  • Value Village and a thrift store of the Salvation Army share the 915 Memorial Avenue address, and the Salvation Army runs a second store on Red River Road. Nothing on either chain's store pages says anything about books that is specific to Thunder Bay, and neither local branch has posted about its book shelves, so walk in without expectations. Twice As Nice, a few minutes from The Bookshelf, is the safer charity bet on the south side.
  • The north-core trio makes one walk: Hill City Comics is about 150 metres from Waverley Library, and SuperThrift is under 700 metres from both. Comix Plus & Music Exchange on Algoma Street South is on the way, a comic and record shop whose Facebook posts of December 2025 push gift items and hats rather than secondhand stock. The Bookshelf is almost 6 km off in the south core, with The Junk Zone between the two, so the second half of the day is a drive or a bus ride.
  • Entershine Bookshop in the Bay and Algoma district and Indigo on Memorial Avenue sell new books, though Entershine will special-order a title new or used on request. Letters Bookshop, active in Toronto from 1978 to 2011 before moving north, describes its storefronts on AbeBooks as accessible by appointment, and its online inventory showed as temporarily unavailable in September 2026. For person-to-person swaps, the Facebook group Thunder Bay Used Books for Sale/Trade/Wanted is one local board.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find cheap used books in Thunder Bay?

Donated stock is where the low prices are. The Friends' used bookstore at the Waverley branch prices books from $1 to about $10, according to a volunteer quoted by TBNewsWatch in December 2025, and the group's Toonie Tote pop-ups at County Park charge $2 for a full bag, the latest over three days ending September 19, 2026. SuperThrift on Johnson Avenue ran half price on white tags in February 2026, books included. Among the dealers, The Junk Zone listed 1990s magazines at $5 each in September 2026.

Where do I sell used books in Thunder Bay?

The Bookshelf on Victoria Avenue East is the stop on this page that trades books for store credit, and in winter it asks that boxes not ride around in a cold car for hours first. Donations go to the Friends at Waverley Library until the branch's final public day in late November 2026, or to SuperThrift during its Monday-to-Saturday drop-off window. Keep back anything collectible for your own listing. Sorting goes quicker from a single shelf photo, since BiblioScan recognizes every visible spine and pins a resale estimate on each title, which sets the keepers apart from the trade pile.

Which day is best for book hunting in Thunder Bay?

Thursday. Every one of the six stops here opens on Thursday and Friday, counting The Junk Zone by its directory listing, and Thursday is the evening when Hill City Comics and the Friends' store both stay open until 7pm. Saturday drops Hill City, which is closed all weekend, and on Sunday, going by the Friends' own grid, The Bookshelf is the one door open, from noon to 5pm. On a Friday, finish at the Friends' room before its 4pm close.

When is the big library book sale in Thunder Bay?

The library's Friends group runs Toonie Tote pop-ups, filling a bag for $2 in the County Park Library mall space at 1020 Dawson Road. The most recent one filled three days in mid-September 2026, Thursday the 17th through Saturday the 19th, and neither the calendar nor the Friends' page carried a follow-up on September 28, 2026. Between pop-ups, the Friends' store inside Waverley Library sells the same kind of donated stock until the building shuts its doors after Sunday, November 22, 2026; on the Friends' own grid its last session falls on Saturday, November 21.

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