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This article was published 19/08/2019 (2427 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s something special about a used bookstore.

There’s often a certain smell emitting from pages that can date back more than 100 years, caused by a combination of the materials books are made from — glue, inks and various chemicals used for the treatment of paper — and the gradual breakdown of the components that go into their construction.

Used bookstores usually have a haphazard order to them, but even the neatest, most well-organized ones have some seemingly random pile in an aisle, or a box of books waiting to be shelved — it’s part of the shop’s esthetic charm.

And of course, there’s the proprietor, always ready with advice or suggestions if you’re struggling to find something that piques your interest that day.

Winnipeg is home to more than a dozen shops devoted to selling used books, ranging from mass-market paperbacks to valuable collector’s editions. You never know what you might find, since the stock can change rapidly, based on whatever titles people are willing to trade in or sell.

There are so many used bookstores in the city, several owners formed an organization called the Winnipeg Association of Secondhand Booksellers (which includes stores in Onanole and Brandon) to produce a map showing where shops are located.

We couldn’t get to all the used bookstores in town, but visited five of them in different areas of the city as part of the Winnipeg Free Press’s Take 5 series.

 

Book Fair Comics, 340 Portage Ave.

The chapters in Book Fair’s 42-year story include having to move for the expansion of the Portage Village Inn, being forced to move again for the construction of Portage Place, and having to relocate once more for the construction of the Manitoba Hydro building.

The downtown institution has been in its current home for the past 17 years, with stock that includes tens of thousands of books, comics and graphic novels, as well as sports memorabilia, ranging from pennants to pins.

“We’ve had three, four generations shopping in our store. We kind of have something for everybody,” says owner Judy Weselowski, who describes the shop as a family business, while standing beside her cousin, Donna Shuwera, who’s working the counter.

The 3,500-square-foot space is long and narrow, with books and comics lining the walls, and back issues of comics in the centre of the store. The rare and collector’s issues are high along the back wall, with classic horror comics and Marvel titles ranging from from $100 to $1,000.

Book categories include mystery, true crime, science fiction, war, Canadian, romance, plays, adult education, children’s and biographies.

“Every store needs classics, and westerns are hot right now. Reference books. People are always looking for reference books. Something to hang on to,” Shuwera says.

Anything Book Fair doesn’t accept that customers don’t wish to haul home is donated to the Salvation Army, Siloam Mission, the Children’s Hospital and church libraries.

 

Burton Lysecki Books, 527 Osborne St.

One of the oldest used bookstores in Winnipeg, Burton Lysecki Books has been in business since 1971 and found its permanent home on Osborne Street in 1973.

With 4,000 square feet of space, it is also the city’s biggest used bookstore, with more than 100,000 titles. It has a focus on history — especially Manitoba history — philosophy, collectibles, first editions, vintage, fine bindings and antiquarian tomes.

Lysecki himself is semi-retired these days, but still works at least once a week and is available to appraise collections, says Karen Sigurdson, who started working as a manager there 20 years ago before becoming a co-owner six years ago.

“With someone like Burton around with almost 50 years knowledge, you can be confident that you are going to get good information,” she says.

The shop features plenty of hard-to-find pieces, out-of-print and one-of-a-kind books amassed over the years, including the largest collection of Canadian poetry for sale in the city, which you can peruse on chairs and stools through the store.

“We have people that come in weekly, and I expect people to see something new in the section every week,” Sigurdson says of keeping the shelves fresh. “We have a basement space, so we pull from that and shift things around.”

 

Dog-Eared Books, 1157 Henderson Hwy.

Being in same shop for 21 years means Linda Durham knows what people in North Kildonan and the surrounding areas like to read.

“The neighbourhood wants mysteries, true crime, romance and children’s books,” says the friendly 70-year-old.

So that’s what she stocks, along with staples such as sci-fi, horror, sports, Indigenous issues and even some puzzles in her small and tidy shop, which holds 16,000 titles in just under 900 square feet of space.

One of the most popular authors is Nora Roberts, who has something of a shrine dedicated to her in the middle of the romance section, just above a smaller space devoted to the author’s alter-ego, J.D. Robb.

Near the front of the shop are popular books that come in and out regularly (In Cold Blood and The Handmaid’s Tale, for example) and children’s books, many of which she has read based on the advice of young customers who frequent the shop with their parents.

“Their recommendations are as good as anybody’s else’s,” Durham says.

 

Globosapiens, 3096 Portage Ave.

Cathy Buttazoni is a bit of a hunter.

The owner of Globosapiens — who opened the store in 2008, sold it in 2013 and bought it back again in 2016 — has a list of books people have requested. She once waited seven years for a copy of Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke to come into the store for a customer, who was surprised she still had his old request.

“I want people to read and get their books. That’s my main goal,” she says.

Globosapiens is the only bookstore in the western portion of the city and has 50,000 titles crammed into 1,100 square feet of space, including more than 4,000 children’s books, making it a stop for teachers, librarians and home-schoolers, Buttazoni says. Right now, boxes of books are waiting to be shelved following the acquisition of stock from the recently closed Neighbourhood Bookstore & Cafe in Wolseley.

The shop focuses on fast-moving modern books in genres such as mystery, romance, westerns, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and biographies, along with a special local section and a section for award-winners.

There are some items Buttazoni won’t sell though: her collection of several dozen Arabian Knights books in different versions and languages displayed on an upper shelf behind the counter.

There are several easy chairs and recliners spread throughout the space, and the plan is to remove some of the shelving in the centre of the room to make the shop more of a neighbourhood meeting place.

 

Red River Book Store, 92 Arthur St.

There is a certain organized chaos to Red River Book Store.

The shop has tens of thousands of items, including books in subjects ranging from car repair to new age philosophy, new and used comics, vinyl, VHS tapes, magazines, CDs, collectibles, oddities and even some toys spread across 3,500 square feet (plus a basement and upstairs area used as storage space), with stacks of books piled in front of overflowing shelves in the Exchange District building, constructed in 1900.

The shop’s organization means you can spend hours uncovering buried treasures — if you don’t see it on the shelf, keep digging — in the space in the historic Gault Block, which was used as a warehouse/store when it first opened, selling staple goods on the first floor, clothing and linens on the second floor.

Dennis B. — he says the B stands for Books — has run Red River since 1973, first opening on Main Street before moving to Cumberland Avenue for about a decade until moving to Arthur Street 34 years ago.

The biggest selling items at Red River are graphic novels, and books about local history, literature and philosophy, while romance novels and religious tomes sell the least.

“It’s good to see literature is holding its own and people are still reading good quality writing,” he says.

“The trouble with second-hand stores is you can’t get more copies of a bestseller.”

rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca