Little Yenta Books
a used bookstore in South Philadelphia
Little Yenta Books is a used bookstore in the East Passyunk neighborhood of South Philadelphia (1912 E Passyunk). We buy and sell books, especially literary fiction, classics, science fiction, poetry, theory/philosophy, and nonfiction about history, art, and interesting people.yen·ta /ˈyentə/: gossip or busybody, colloquially "matchmaker," originally a Yiddish given name
Visit Us
Our shop is located at 1912 E Passyunk Avenue in Philadelphia.There are two steps up to the entrance and two steps from the front room to the rest of the shop.Hours:
Monday, Thursday, Friday: 12 PM-7 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 11 AM-6 PM
Tuesday & Wednesday: Closed
We buy books and accept book donations!
WE ARE NO LONGER DOING WALK-IN BOOK BUYING. PLEASE EMAIL US A PICTURE OF WHAT YOU'D LIKE TO SELL AFTER READING THE BELOW CAREFULLY.
We generally offer 30-40% of resale value in store credit or 15-25% in cash, the typical rates for used book stores. Donated books will be rehomed through our shop or our nonprofit partner, BookSmiles.Please email [email protected] clear images of the spines (a stack is great) or images of the covers of the books. If you can't send photos, please send a list of titles and authors that are representative of your collection.We are so grateful to anyone who considers selling or giving their books to us. However, as a tiny store, we're limited in what we can take.
What we're looking for:
Paperback fiction, particularly literary fiction, classics, science fiction, and fantasy
Poetry, art, photography, occult/mythology, film/media, philosophy, narrative nonfiction
Collectibles, like first or early editions, vintage mass market paperbacks, out-of-print titles, fine bindings, and signed copies
Authors we'll almost always buy: James Baldwin, Roberto Bolaño, Octavia Butler, Philip K. Dick, Joan Didion, Elena Ferrante, David Graeber, N.K. Jemisin, Patrick Radden Keefe, Ursula K. Le Guin, Haruki Murakami, Virginia Woolf
Publishers we'll almost always buy: New York Review Books (NYRB), McNally Editions, Dalkey Archive Press, Fitzcarraldo Editions, Persephone Books, Virago Press
What we don't buy:
Books in poor condition (annotations and highlighting, water and mold damage, heavy wear)
Encyclopedias, travel guides, textbooks, references, diet books
Abridged versions of longer titles
Ex-library books or books with Free Little Library stamps (please don't try to sell us things you got from a Free Little Library!)
Most biographies/memoirs
We're picky about mysteries, thrillers, spy novels, westerns, and romance
Most children's books and young adult
Comics and serial manga (we buy graphic novels, though!)
Magazines, periodicals, VHS, puzzles, anything that is not a book
FAQ
Do you have book clubs?
Yes! We have two that we run and one run by a friend of the shop. Sign up for our general monthly book club here and our short story collection book club here.Can you host my reading/performance/other event?
We cannot accommodate event requests. We are a two-person team (with only one of us working here full-time) and unfortunately don't have the capacity to host events beyond our book clubs.I'm an author, can you stock my book?
No, we are an all used bookstore and do not stock new books.Are you hiring?
Nope! Sorry.I'm looking for a specific book. Do you have it? Can you order it for me?
It's always worth asking us whether we have something you're looking for, we sometimes have it! But as a used bookstore, we don't order our used books-- we have to find them. This means that our stock varies based on what people sell to us and what we find when we're sourcing. For that reason, we can't order you a used book in the same way a new bookstore can order you a new one. If you let us know what you're looking for, we can let you know next time we get it in!If you want a new book, ordering through our Bookshop.org page supports the shop :)
Contact Us
Do you have books for sale? Would you like us to find you a specific book? Just want to say hi? Email [email protected] :)Note: We aren't hiring and do not stock new books or items that are not used books. Thanks!
Our logo and other cherub images are sourced from Rebecca McCann's Cheerful Cherub, an early 1900s single panel comic series.