Half Price Books — Local services in Madison

Great place to find your hidden treasures. I went in to find a complete book on birds of N. America & found 9 of them, 3 that I wanted. One big detailed coffee book, one smaller one for the vehicle, and a pocket one to carry around. I love the variety of things they had in the store too. They were more than a bookstore, they had a smaller eclectic variety of music, comics, DVD's, posters, puzzles, games, etc. all older, but still very useful. If you want to have fun wasting a little time, you need something and just don't know what yet, or you have a certain book/series/genre you want to get, this is the place. The staff was also very helpful and available, they did not "pester" me at all, but were constantly moving and accessible, they stopped what they were doing to help me.

If you made me say, there is only one thing I didn't like, I would have to say, seating. I know this is a good/bad thing, because you put seating in you take away space & some people sit way too long. I'm in the other side, I'm older and my legs hurt from standing/walking too much. Even if they put a small table with 3-4 chairs in 3 parts of the store, and then tell people to respect others, and leave the books on the table for staff to put away. It would be perfect. I think I would have bought 2-3 more books if I could have explored them a little, but I was in too much pain.

Overall, I highly recommend this place, as a fun place to spend some quality time for yourself, you need a gift, or you want something very specific. This place will give you...

On August 9, 2024 at half price books, a book called "10 little colored boys" is displayed in a glass case being sold for $250.00. After viewing this, the salesperson was informed of the offensive nature but was unmoved by this display of racism. As a person of color, I am offended and disgusted by this not only because the book is derogatory and racially insensitive but also because it's being offered at a premium price! The suggestion that it's worth 250.00 at Half price books, suggests that it should be revered, how aggregious! I would like to request that this book be removed, and offered to a black history museum, so that people can see how African Americans were depicted in the 40's (it's publication date). If you don't know of any black historical museums, I do. Send it to me and I will forward it for you. But by all means, please remove this from your inventory! And educate yourselves...

This is one the easier Hal Price Bookstores to get to. They are in a plaza right of East Washington as you come into Madison on US 151. Going south, they're in a plaza on the left side of the road, just past East Towne Mall. The people are really nice and helpful! It's a bit understaffed, but that seems to be a repeating theme no matter where you go. I was selling books this trip. I was able to get help carrying them in ( I had A LOT!)and they got thru them in a reasonable amount of time. They do now share books they don't need with charities instead of recycling them (Hooray because my books were all in very good-excellent condition). I got an ok amount for them. Book-wise, they carry an excellent selection. I read/collect Doctor Who books, and I found a lot of books I don't have. Overall, it was a very positive experience, and I highly recommend this Half...