New Jerseys Not So Bad: Montclair Book Center

As part of my grand plan to convince the world (and myself) that living in New Jersey isn’t so bad, I am exploring restaurants, coffee shops, and other places that make the Garden State great. 

Located within two buildings with three floors and thousands of new and used books, journals, vinyl records, and CDs, the Montclair Book Center (MBC) makes liking in New Jersey not so bad. 

The shop was originally opened in 1984 as a branch of the Passaic Book Center, a now-closed book and comic book store. It has grown significantly since its opening. The MBC combines new and used books, creating an incredibly wide array of options. The store is organized and arranged by category, making it easy to browse. Titles range from classic literature and popular fiction to collector’s items and banned books.

While its main focus is printed books, the Montclair Book Center offers much, much more. The MBC also carries a fantastic selection of vinyl records and CDs in many musical genres. The recently expanded vinyl selection now includes a basement bargain section. The MBC also carries journals, tarot cards, puzzles, and even some music-related posters, t-shirts, and memorabilia. 

The MBC sells shirts and tote bags by Out of Print, a brand whose mission is to spread the joy of reading by transforming literary classics into bookish apparel and accessories. Out of Print scours library stacks and local bookstores to find the classics and unique covers that turn into their products. This company not only makes great products but also gives back to communities in need. Out of Print has donated over 5 million books to communities in need and supports a variety of literacy initiatives. 

I’ve purchased a tote bag that features the cover of Jaws by Peter Benchley. I’ve also purchased my nephew his first tote bag that features Winnie the Pooh stacking books with the phrase, “Books give you a boost!” 

If you’re anything like me and you’re running out of space on your bookshelf, you may want to consider donating books to the MBC. While they don’t pay cash for used books, they do trade in-store, used-book credit. Credit cannot be used toward new books, music, or any other merchandise; however, used books make up a large part of their inventory making this worth your wild! The credit doesn’t expire since it’s stored in the computer system attached to the donor’s name. Seriously worth it! 

There are some rules for donating that patrons should be aware of. Call ahead on the SAME day you want to come in. This is a biggy! A very big biggy! Call ahead and let them know you want to come in that day. That very same day. Not tomorrow, not the next day, TODAY! That’s because UPS sometimes comes in with over a dozen boxes of new books for MBC to process and shelve.

They can often take up to two milk crates’ worth of donated books; however, if they are sorting through hundreds of new books, they may only be able to take a few donated books, if any at all that day. MBC doesn’t take books during the weekend with occasional small exceptions. If it's only a handful of books and you call ahead, they may make an exception. The specific list of books they can and cannot take is listed on the MBC website, I recommend double-checking this list to confirm you are only bringing eligible books. 

I have bought an insane amount of books and records from this store. I’m talking about almost all my books and records have come from this store. I’ve even gotten gifts for my family members there. My grandpa is a sucker for coffee table books and the third floor which is dedicated solely to non-fiction books has saved me every Christmas for the past three years. 

I’ve bought too many books and records from the Montclair Book Center to list them all here. However, there are a couple of honorable mentions. I’ve purchased a beautiful copy of It by Stephen King. I know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I would never have picked up It without seeing that creepy white cover because the book is over 1100 pages long. But the cover convinced me and now I am so happy to have this book on my shelf. 

I’ve also purchased a beautiful copy of Little Women solely for the cover. I’ve also purchased unique books like The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath in addition to Plath’s story Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom. This story was written by Plath in 1952 when she was a student at Smith College. If not for MBC, I don’t think I would’ve ever read this story that has now become one of my favorites. 

My record collection has tremendously expanded since I discovered the MBC. Here is a list of the ones I can remember off the top of my head: Boygenius (EP); Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison; The Best of Judy Garland; The Cole Porter Songbook performed by Ella Fitzgerald; the West Side Story soundtrack; the Grease soundtrack; the Cabaret soundtrack; the Wicked soundtrack; a bunch of Joni Mitchell albums; a couple of Liza Minnelli and a few Cher albums; and my most embarrassing album, The Archie’s Greatest Hits. 

Yes, the Archie’s. As in Archie Comics. As in Riverdale. 

I am sharing part of my embarrassing album collection because it goes to show the wide variety and unique collection offered by the Montclair Book Center. 

The used collections make for low prices. The cheapest book I’ve bought from MBC was $4. Even the most expensive book or record I’ve purchased didn’t compare to the prices at Barnes and Noble. 

The Montclair Book Center is located at 221 Glenridge Avenue, Montclair, NJ. They are closed on Mondays. Open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The MBC is open on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.