Chicago Bookstores by Neighborhood
Chicago has three kinds of bookstore worth crossing town for. Independent new-book shops order anything you ask for and fill their calendars with author events. Used and rare dealers buy as well as sell, so a box of your old books can pay for the trip. And specialists focus on one thing: zines, plays, nature writing, feminist and queer literature, or writers of color. Most of the best are neighborhood shops, so this guide is organized by area, with what each store does best and how to sell to the ones that buy.
Before you go, check hours. Many indies open at 10 or 11am and close by 6 or 7pm, several close one weekday, and few are open late. Many also sell online through their own websites for in-store pickup, which is the simplest way to make sure a specific book is waiting for you.
Hyde Park: The Book Neighborhood
The University of Chicago was founded in Hyde Park in 1890, and the bookstores grew up around it. Four independent shops sit within about a mile of each other, alongside a Barnes & Noble on 55th Street, and the Metra Electric stops at 53rd Street and at 55th-56th-57th Street. See our Hyde Park district page and shopping near UChicago for the rest of the neighborhood.
Seminary Co-op Bookstore (5751 S Woodlawn Ave) started in 1961, when 17 book lovers put in $10 each, in the basement of the Chicago Theological Seminary. It moved above ground in 2012. It is the place for academic and scholarly books, and members get a rebate on purchases. It is open weekdays 11am to 6pm and Saturday 10am to 5pm, and closed Sundays. Its sister store, 57th Street Books (1301 E 57th St), is a basement shop with a broader mix, strong nonfiction and author events on local history. It is open both weekend days and closed Mondays.
Two blocks east, Powell's Bookstore (1501 E 57th St) has sold used, rare and discounted books here since 1970, with stock in the hundreds of thousands. Hours are Wednesday to Saturday 11am to 7pm and Sunday to Tuesday 10am to 5pm. North on Hyde Park Boulevard, Call and Response Books (1390 E Hyde Park Blvd), a Black woman-owned shop that opened in spring 2024, stocks books by Black, brown and Indigenous authors and hosts author talks and a small concert series. It is closed Mondays.
Wicker Park, Logan Square and Avondale
The Northwest Side has the city's best used and small-press shopping. Myopic Books (1564 N Milwaukee Ave), at the six corners, is one of Chicago's oldest and largest used bookstores, with three floors of stacks, and opens daily from noon to 8pm. Three blocks east on North Avenue, Quimby's Bookstore (1854 W North Ave) is the specialist for zines, small-press comics and DIY publishing, with a zine club of its own. On Division, Perpetual Books (2136 W Division St) pairs fiction and poetry with vintage magazines and used vinyl. Our Wicker Park records and books walk links them with the record stores on Milwaukee Avenue.
In Logan Square, City Lit Books (2523 N Kedzie Blvd) is a neighborhood shop with a fireplace, staff picks, author events and genre book clubs, including one for horror. Up Milwaukee in Avondale, Skunk Cabbage Books (2826 N Milwaukee Ave) opened in 2023 with a focus on nature and climate writing, and runs workshops, book clubs and nature walks.
Where to Sell Used Books
Three shops on this list buy, and each works differently. Call or check the website before you haul boxes across town.
Myopic buys Fridays 4pm to 8pm and Saturdays noon to 4pm, up to three boxes or four grocery bags per party per day, for cash or store credit. For eight boxes or more, call to set an appointment. It is keenest on photography, design, art, film and music, poetry, philosophy, architecture, cooking, contemporary fiction and sci-fi and horror, and picky about mysteries.
Powell's asks you to call during business hours and ask for a buyer, and more than six boxes needs an appointment. It wants scholarly titles, literary fiction, poetry, art and photography, comics and children's books, and does not buy textbooks, self-help, celebrity memoirs, test prep, magazines, most reference books or CDs and records. Never leave books outside the door.
Uncharted Books (3632 N Western Ave), a used shop on Western Avenue, buys during regular hours and pays in store credit only, reviewing books one at a time. Rare and antiquarian books are by appointment by email. It also takes donations in bags or boxes while it is open, and it is closed Tuesdays.
The North Side
Women & Children First (5233 N Clark St) is a feminist bookstore founded in 1979, with a large queer literature section, book groups, storytimes and a busy author-event calendar. It sits on the Clark Street strip covered in our Andersonville walk.
In Lakeview, Unabridged Bookstore (3251 N Broadway) opened on November 1, 1980, and is known for its LGBTQ literature, a sale section, a children's section and a travel room. It is open daily 10am to 7pm, and you can order on its website for pickup or UPS shipping. In Roscoe Village, RoscoeBooks (2142 W Roscoe St) has a strong children's section of picture, activity and board books and will special-order anything it doesn't stock.
In Lincoln Square, The Book Cellar (4736-38 N Lincoln Ave) is a bookstore with a cafe serving coffee, wine and beer and a steady schedule of readings, steps from the Western Brown Line. In Lincoln Park, Lilliput Books (2150 N Halsted St) is a small community shop with children's books, cookbooks and a section on Chicago history and architecture.
Downtown and the South Loop
Exile in Bookville (410 S Michigan Ave, Suite 210) is on the second floor of the Fine Arts Building facing Grant Park, where books and music meet: indie titles and translations alongside vinyl and stationery, plus its Authors on Tap events. The CTA Red and Blue Line Jackson stops and the Harold Washington Library station are close, and Metra's Van Buren Street station is across Michigan Avenue.
A few blocks south in Printers Row, family-owned Sandmeyer's Bookstore (714 S Dearborn St) has sold new books since 1982. Dearborn is also home to the free Printers Row Lit Fest, held each September; the 2026 edition ran September 12 and 13 between Ida B. Wells Drive and Polk Street. 2027 dates have not been announced.
North of the river, After-Words Bookstore (23 E Illinois St) sells new and used books on two floors, a block west of Michigan Avenue. Hours vary by source, so call ahead. On State Street, Barnes & Noble State Street (150 N State St) opened in August 2026 at Randolph in the former Old Navy space: up to 30,000 square feet across three floors, the chain's biggest Chicago store.
West Loop and Pilsen
Open Books is a nonprofit whose used bookstores fund literacy programs. Open Books West Loop (651 W Lake St) and Open Books Pilsen (905 W 19th St) sell mostly donated books, and a third store in North Lawndale (3812 W 16th St) opens Saturdays. At the Pilsen shop, children's books are free every day and adult titles are pay-what-you-want. The Logan Square store closed on March 1, 2026.
On 18th Street, Pilsen Community Books (1531 W 18th St) is employee-owned and reopened in February 2026 in a bigger space with an expanded Spanish-language section, new, used and rare books, and an event room. It is strong on politics, translation and poetry. Pair it with our 18th Street guide.