Open Books West Loop — Local services in West Chicago Township

Open Books is such a fun bookstore with an awesome mission. I always love shops that have a mix of old and new books because when you're a bibliophile as I am, the used books mean money saved yet sometimes you're just dying to get your hands on the latest new release. The cool thing about Open Books is that they fulfill both needs and do both very well. You can easily find all the latest and greatest and they'll even help you order something if you can't. But the true gem of this store is probably the massive and well organized used book selection. It's so big I have had to ask where to locate certain sections before but it's all well labeled and laid out so you can peruse fiction or non, Memoir, Politics, Poetry, Music, whatever strikes your fancy. Something especially good they've got going for themselves is a fantastic used kids and young adult section as well. I've been to bookstores all of the country and tend to find, especially when it comes to used books, the kids section is often an afterthought. That is, if there's even one at all. Here at the West Loop location there's a whole separate and large room for kids books and my friend and I had a blast browsing. He found some great stuff ror his young nieces and nephews and we both found some great YA books for ourselves (because let's face it, these days YA is just fantastic and putting out some truly great stuff- you'll find so many of those YA best sellers here for awesome prices!)

I really love the character of this store as well. The area it's in is rather industrial and the outside certainly has that look but the inside, while vast and open, doesn't feel industrial or warehouse-like at all. And as a native Detroiter, I'm very familiar with the warehouse behemoth that is John King Books. At Open Books though, there's a warmth to store. As vast as the store is it's packed (but neatly!) with books and painted and decorated nicely. The staff have always been fantastically friendly and helpful and clearly know books as every time I've bought anything we've ended up chatting about my finds. I've also been given some great recommendations for books for my father who is someone who will read anything and everything but lights up when he really hits his niche. Thanks to the advice I was given, I was able to help do that for my dad! And I just love this friendliness as bookstores, much like record stores, can often be staffed by quiet or even judgey types. You won't experience that here!

While you're bouncing around in book bliss (that's not just me, right?) there's the added bonus of knowing you're helping support literacy efforts in the city. So even if you walk out with far more books than you intended on buying, you can feel good knowing your money is going to an incredibly worthwhile cause. Not only that, but Open Books kind of serves as a community hub and hosts many different events. My first time visiting was actually for an event with two authors hosted by a foreign affairs group I'm involved with and I can also say they have a large meeting room for these sorts of things. It's separate from the actual books and is definitely worth considering if you have a group or org in need of meeting or even space. There's a board and ad area near the register in the fronr or the shop that always seems to have a lot ot neat events going on too. I think it's really neat that Open Books is able to be so many things and really, as I said, serve as a community hub for West Loop.

My last visit was for one of their big used book sales. A few times a year they do a big half off sale (and 25% off new books too!) for an entire weekend. I HIGHLY recommend dropping by for this and bringing a couple of sturdy totes! I live over near the lakeshore in Lakeview so unfortunately had repeatedly failed to make it down for sales in the past but I'm never making that mistake again! I walked out with 20 books and that was after putting at least 20 more back. Shame I don't live closer because I basically stopped at 20 because anymore we're going to be impossible to...

OMG, a not-for-profit that seems aggressive in spending resources on removing bad reviews. Now, I have nothing personal about the Loop location in general. I've purchased many a wonderful books here. But whoever was staffing the place Sunday, Labor Day weekend 2022 were just a couple of mean girls. I was there for quite some time and it appeared they were only being rude to white males because they were over the top nice to individuals of other races and women in general. Now it could have been my imagination, but I posted this on Instagram and I got a response from Instagram 24 hours later saying I needed to be "more supportive" within Instagram community meaning that someone complained about my inquiry and had a snowflake meltdown and decided to persecute me and report me. No doubt the same two silly woke mean girls working the location using rudeness as a political tool. It's the first time actually I've ever encountered such behavior here. Normally they're very cool kids who bend over backwards but not this Sunday. It was just a strange vibe and it needs to end immediately. Can't believe I've even had to take time and energy to write this.

In addition, they seem to be closed today Wednesday, june 19, 2024 and there are no signs. none of the stores are answering their phones and there have been many people wondering by wanting to purchase their goods. This is totally unacceptable and a sign of an organization completely out of control. Even the website is not indicate that they will be closed today. Just a bunch of jerks with a long history of...

Open Books is a pretty great place for a combination of encouraging reading and does social good at the same time. It's a non-profit who uses what it raises to support literacy programs that it runs for students across the Chicagoland area.

If you are in the downtown area and are looking for a book as a gift or for yourself I can't stress enough the benefit from buying at a shop like Open Books. Not only are you going to enjoy what you purchase but you'll be helping others better their own reading skills and hopefully inflame the same passion for reading that you have.

Have extra books in great condition or a pile of free time? They do take donations and volunteer help as well! Speaking of volunteers the staff being made up of them clearly all have a passion for reading and encouraging reading in others so if you want to talk about potential books to pickup you are going to find a SLEW of suggestions here!

It's a great business model for helping encouraging reading in the youth of the Chicagoland area. Curious as to what they have on stock ahead of time? You can use their website to either order what you are interested in through their Amazon store or even get it ready to pickup when...