Eborn Books

It appears that whoever wound up with the old Sam Weller store downtown took whatever they wanted (probably as much of the good stuff as they could carry and had space for) and moved it to Trolley Square, then sold this to Eborn, who promptly left the dive of Valley Fair Mall for a much larger-​scale dive downtown. Perfect.
The Eborn in Valley Fair Mall was a hodge-​podge mess of entirely unsorted and vaguely organized used books from perhaps dubious and nefarious sources. They had some valuable ones they kept squirreled away somewhere, left a handful of newer stuff by the doors and the rest was literally shelf after shelf of free-​for-​all.
Here, we have sort of more of the same. A lot of the junk that Sam Weller had, described elsewhere by others, didn’t move but instead got added to in some sort of cutout bin avalanche. Can you find cool stuff here? Definitely, but be prepared to do a ton of digging (I’ve spent tons of time in this store and never regretted it — it’s only when I leave to be accosted for everything from pocket change to cigarettes I don’t have that I begin to strongly question the depths of humanity) and be further prepared to have a sliding scale of relevance. I personally dig old books, both for a sense of the times they were written in, as well as any historical value to go with what frequently winds up being dated information.
Before this was a store I’d hit up (it was usually a several hour trip) once or twice a year. Now, it’s considerably less than that. Like most other bookstores, they contend with both higher prices and much lower selection than the internet. Let’s be honest; exactly how many times in the last 10 years has there been any book that you just couldn’t wait a few days for? Or read straight through, cover to cover? How about the last 20, if you’re old enough for that?
I’m pleased this place is still around, even with all its various faults as I will be truly sad once this, and all others of its kind are gone, but the glory days have passed.

Good as far as outdated and dingy used bookstores go, but unfortunately that ship sailed somewhere in the early 90s. That they’ve hung on this long is impressive, but longevity is not the same thing as relevance.
First, 95% of the books here are Church rummage sale fodder. Books that were’t interesting or useful when they were printed in 1982, let alone today. There were literally about 5 – 10 books in the photography section that were printed after 2003, which says to me they either don’t curate their titles, or they sell books more as collectibles than relevant sources of knowledge, in which case they should have a store about ¹⁄₁₀^th the size to house those precious few books they have with any actual collectability.
One reason to come to places like this is to just pick up cheap old paperbacks. Used mass market paperbacks should be maybe $ 1.50-$ 2.00. But $ 5 for a tattered old Stephen King? Gimme a break. There were so many examples of books you almost literally couldn’t give away with $ 4+ pricetags.
For the bookish eccentric this may be a neat place. It has that musty, slightly sour smell of an old library and is truly impressive is sheer size and volume. There is a little café inside, and I could see coming here to explore for that rare and wildly erratic treasure now and again. But as far as finding relevant books at good prices goes, this store is a dud.

A very impressive used book store and a great find given that every day there are fewer and fewer used book stores in the USA.
What I like most about this store was that their large selection of ‘rare’ used books was very nicely displayed. Very easy to see what they thought was most unique in their collection.
As others have mentioned, a very large selection of local books, including a large selection of seemingly rare LDS books.
Very much worth a stop.

As much of an extrovert as I may seem to those who have met me, I truly am an introvert at the core. Eborn Books is a place where my introverted tendencies can comfortably indulge. I love everything about this place from the worn down signs to the zig zagged book arrangements to the 90s style carpet. Make sure you do bring hand sanitizer though – I’m pretty sure this place isn’t cleaned regularly. It’s a decently sized book store that sells bookmarks, collector’s coins, limited edition comics, and used books. Within the books that isn’t behind the counters, there is a plethora of literature ranging from history to art to war heroes and even science.
On top of that, the staff here has always been very welcoming, efficient, and helpful in all my visits. Prices are fair. I’ve picked up several like new condition books with the author’s autograph in them for under $ 10! I’ve even seen some for less, and there’s a huge collection of first edition mystery novels as well that I’ve picked up for my friends who are huge fans of specific authors. It’s a great place to find older novels, including first editions. There are even full sets of novels and several with the author’s autograph.
Something about reading from a second hand book adds more character to it and even companionship to the reading experience – at least to me it does. Kudos to Eborn Books for staying so true to its roots after all these years despite the booming changes to SLC. If I were to ever visit downtown SLC again after moving out of Utah, I’ll make sure to come back to visit Eborn.
Tip: If you have a pen pal or friend that you send care packages to, this is a great place to pick up a book to send to them also! Something about reading a book & sharing that book with someone else, bonds two people in a similar journey. If you don’t have a pen pal or friend to exchange care packages with… get one! :]

They seem to have a wide selection of books, thought it’s a bit hard to navigate or get a sense of the organization. The sub-​par rating is due to the price markup. I’m sorry, but if I see a used book listed at the same price as the listed publishers price on the back cover, there’s something off with this. If your business is based on this kind of used book resale, perhaps it’s time to revisit your business model. I’ll be taking my business elsewhere.

Don’t let the exterior fool you as to the interior size of this place — it seems to go on and on. I love independent new/​used bookstores — it is an adventure every time you walk into one and this place is no exception. Great selection — like others have mentioned — not the most logically organized place. But everything I looked for had a section. Plus when in SLC– there is an incredibly large LDS area upstairs.

I love this building, it has a lot of character. The old safe and the maze of books you can get lost in. Some categories are lagging but others are big. The amount of books and periodicals and books dedicated to religion (primarily LSD) is insanely large. It’d be nice if they’d diversify a bit more, but following the money makes sense.

Salt Lake City, congratulations on having the countries best used book store.

«A-​OK» describes this store for me. They offer a huge selection of books on all topics. Their art and photo sections weren’t anything to write home about, but these days those sections being standouts are few and far between. I was really impressed by their section on the western US.
What did not impress me was the huge biography section, which seemed to be pretty disheveled. Some parts seemed to be sorted by the subject’s letter, but even those weren’t in alphabetical order. (See photo.)
But all in all, a fine way to pass an hour!