Independent Bookstore Directory

Dark Star has been buying an selling books and comics in Yellow Springs for 36 years! Whether you like classics like The Great Gatsby or hard to find vintage Science Fiction, we’ve probably got something for you. History, Philosophy and Metaphysics mingle side by side on shelves full of over 40,000 used, rare, and collectible books. We also carry a select array of new books, as well as games, Geek culture collectibles and more. Stop by sometime, and be sure to say hi to our resident cat.

Store Hours

Monday through Sunday

11:00am – 5:00pm

Mary Alice Wilson

FOUNDER AND OWNER

Mary Alice Wilson opened Dark Star Books and Comics in 1982 in Yellow Springs, Ohio after a successful career teaching at elementary schools, high schools, Central State University, Wilberforce University. “After teaching reading for so many years to people that didn’t like to read, I decided I wanted to be in a place where people appreciated reading and books,” says Mary Alice. Dark Star started as a small comic shop in the King’s Yard area of Yellow Springs As the years passed and the business grew, the store moved across the street to a narrow storefront on Xenia Avenue (which is now part of The Emporium), and in 1989 the store moved into its familiar Xenia Avenue home. In 2012, Mary’s daughter Kate moved back to YS, and has been managing the store ever since.

Inscribed Books & Gifts features new books created by authors and illustrators residing in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. In addition to stocking a variety of books of interest to those of all ages, we carry book-related merchandise and gifts for children. Many of the books on our shelves are signed by the authors and illustrators who created them and we can arrange for some of them to be personalized for you.

We fill orders for signed and personalized books through the websites of children’s author/illustrator Will Hillenbrand as well as children’s illustrator Christina Wald.

We carry greeting cards, prints and other forms of artwork created by Will Hillenbrand and Robert A. Flischel, who reside in Hamilton County. We also stock letterpress greeting cards created by Yoshiko Yamamoto of The Arts & Crafts Press based in Tacoma, Washington.

We work with elementary schools, public libraries and other groups that are hosting authors and illustrators for book signings and other literacy events. Contact us if interested in ordering books for classrooms and school library collections.

Store Hours

Monday-Friday By appointment only
Saturdays By appointment only

Sundays: Closed

To reserve a day/time slot, please fill out an appointment form.

TISH GAYLE

FOUNDER AND OWNER

Inscribed Books & Gifts opened its doors in March 2014 on the lower level of the Mariemont Center Building and moved into its current location on street level in Spring 2019. Tish Gayle, a former educator, is sole proprietor. She has been a children’s bookseller for 20 years.

A fixture of Downtown Wooster for over 30 years, Books In Stock offers more than 85,000 used and rare books in a clean, bright, and organized store.

Store Hours

Monday – Friday:
11:00am – 8:00pm

Sunday:
12:00am – 5:00pm

Judi Stock

FOUNDER AND OWNER

Books in Stock was founded in the fall of 1989. Judi Stock had been an English teacher and then a stay-at-home mom. But for various reasons, she felt the need to go back to work. The first option seemed to be to go back to teaching, and Judi obtained a subbing certificate with that in mind. Then in June she and her son Ben drove past a used book store in the country with a sign outside that said “Store Going Out of Business.” “That’s what I should do,” Judi said to Ben. “Open a used book store!”

Trips to the library to read up on starting book stores netted a real find – Dale Gilbert’s book “The Complete Guide to Starting a Used Book Store.” The book has a wonderfully optimistic attitude about opening such a store and was full of information about how to go about doing so. In great detail it gave guidance from choosing a location, building shelves, buying books, running the store, and even eventually selling the business.

A location was found in downtown Wooster, and the whole family (Judi, Charles, Meegan, Ethan, Ben, and future in-law Brendan) pitched in to build a counter and plenty of shelves. Judi began buying books at garage sales, and, as soon as the counter was constructed, advertised that she was buying books which could be brought to the store for evaluation. By the end of September enough shelves were built and enough books gathered to open – just in time for Woosterfest. The store opened with about 8000 books. By the end of December, 1989 there were 14,000. Three years later there were 59,000. Now the inventory numbers more than 85,000 carefully selected books. At first the shelving went to the bottom of the front steps. Then it expanded on one side to the back room. Then both sides to the back room. Then the back room. Then to the second floor.

Judi decided in 2007 that it was time to retire. She sold the store to Jim Weckesser, who owned it until 2013 when the store was sold to Judi’s son and daughter-in-law, Ben and Amanda Stock. Among other changes, Ben put the whole store inventory on computer. People can still buy, sell and trade used and rare books and enjoy perusing the inventory with greater ease than ever.

Snowball Bookshop is the largest open used and out-of-print bookstore in Northeast Ohio with over 100,000 books in stock and 66,000 books on our base.

Store Hours

Sunday – Wednesday: Closed

Thursday – Saturday:
11:00 AM – 4:00 PM

That one simple philosophy is the inspiration behind the country’s largest family-owned bookstore chain. But we do more than just read a lot: We buy and sell new and used books, music, movies, games, electronic devices and collectibles in more than 120 stores and growing.

Half Price Books has been dedicated to literacy and environmental initiatives since 1972. We give back to the community by supporting hundreds of worthy projects, including the Million Book Donation Project and the Half Pint Library Book Drive.

Store Hours

10:00am – 9:00pm 7 days a week

Curbside Pickup: Yes

MELANIE

STORE MANAGER

“I’ve been with Half Price Books since 2003. Over the years I have been amazed at all the old and new treasures that come in our store on a daily basis. With a great selection of books, music, movies and video games, we really do have something for everyone in the family.”

Gramercy Books is a locally-owned, independently-minded neighborhood bookstore located in the heart of Bexley, Ohio. Our philosophy at Gramercy Books is simple: we’re about inspiration and discovery, community and adventure. We connect readers and writers with books they love, and host special events and ongoing visits by authors, poets and songwriters that provoke conversation. Our name, Gramercy, comes from the French words “grand merci,” which translates to “big thanks” or “many thanks.”

We’re so grateful. For books. For our customers. And for the opportunity to bring you this experience. We curate the best books and retail items in easy to locate sections.

Store Hours

Monday through Sunday 10am – 6pm

Parking is readily available in front of the bookstore on East Main Street everyday (excluding weekdays 4pm to 6pm), along Cassady Avenue, or in an adjacent parking lot behind the bookstore accessed via Cassady Avenue.

Linda Kass
FOUNDER AND OWNER

Linda Kass, founder and owner of Gramercy Books, grew up on Columbus’s east side. Trained as a journalist, she began her career as a magazine reporter and correspondent for regional and national publications, such as Columbus Monthly, TIME, and The Detroit Free Press. After a decade working in corporate communications and public affairs within the cable television and broadcasting industries in Detroit and New York City, she returned to Columbus and co-authored The Real Life Nutrition Book (Penguin, 1992). Her debut novel, Tasa’s Song, inspired by her mother’s early life in eastern Poland during the Second World War, garnered widespread praise following its May 2016 publication. Her second historical “novel-in-stories,” A Ritchie Boy, was released in September 2020 and received the 2021 Gold Medal in Historical Fiction by the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Her work has more recently appeared in Columbus Monthly, Jewish Literary Journal, Kenyon Review Online, and The MacGuffin.

In the Columbus community, Linda is known as a strong advocate of education, literacy, and the arts, and has played leadership roles on the boards of the Bexley Schools, Bexley Education Foundation, Capital University, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Kidsohio.org, United Way of Central Ohio, and The Ohio State University. She was the founder of, and led, a successful Bexley author series for nine years prior to opening Gramercy Books, bringing internationally acclaimed authors to the community. That program is now under the auspices of Bexley Public Library. Along with curating all of the book-related events at Gramercy Books, she currently serves as an assistant editor for the online literary magazine, Narrative, is on the Editorial Board of Trillium, an imprint of Ohio State University Press, and is a Trustee of Kenyon Review. Besides her love of reading and writing, attending live concerts of all kinds of music, seeing films, traveling, and spending time with family and friends, Linda is an avid long distance road cyclist and rides every year in the grass roots cycling event, Pelotonia, to support cancer research. She is thrilled to bring a neighborhood indie bookstore to Bexley and to serve book lovers throughout central Ohio!

The Book Loft of German Village is located at 631 South Third Street in Columbus, Ohio, just a few blocks South of the state capitol building. The pre-Civil War era buildings that once were general stores, a saloon, and a nickelodeon cinema, now are home to 32 rooms of Bargain Books.

Store Hours

10am – 11pm 7 days a week.

Closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas

The Book Loft stretches a city block long and has two entrances, one at 631 South Third Street and one at 632 City Park Avenue. Parking is on-street throughout the day.