If you are on the island of Oahu and looking to purchase used books, one of the best second-hand bookstores on the island can be found in Moiliili (mo-eely-eely). The little town sits directly below the University of Hawaii Manoa campus, and “The Bookshelf” is located in Puck’s Alley (corner of University Avenue and South King Street), a student-oriented shopping area right at the bottom of the road that leads to the campus. It can’t get any easier for college students to get a good deal on something to read.
The Bookshelf is clean and orderly, with an excellent selection of books from every genre. Tourists and locals alike can appreciate the Hawaiian section, with Hawaiian literature, history, biographies and autobiographies politics, plants, and arts and crafts. If you are on vacation and looking for souvenirs for children back home, you are sure to find something spectacular and distinctly local.
If you are the Hawaiiana collector type, take a peek at what they keep behind the counter. That’s where the highly valued used- books are kept, stuff from back in the days of black-and-white photography, missionaries, bare feet, and unadulterated Hawaiian culture. Sometimes you might find something from the days when “Hawaii” was known as “Owhyee”. Of course, they have other used hard-to-find books as well. Like the Greek bibles I was looking at the other day.
If you are on the other end of the spectrum, not looking to spend a hundred dollars on a collector’s item, just looking to have something to read while you make it through the peanut butter and jelly week, you can find something here. The dollar shelf always has a variety of things to read; you never know what might show up there. Those bargains are all marked at ninety-six cents and with tax come out to an even dollar. The only better deal than that is the library, but they make you give it back!
The “regular” used-books are very reasonably priced, with most books running approximately half the price you would have paid brand new. And a good number of the books look brand new. The store’s book-buyer, John Lane, is very selective about the books he puts on the shelf. He is also a co-owner of the store and acquired a lot of experience on the wholesale end of the book business before deciding to partner up with the other co-owner, accountant and businessman Russel Morikawa, and open The Bookshelf.
The owners and the staff are great. You are greeted upon entrance with a friendly hello and an offer of assistance to find anything that you are looking for. If it something specific you are looking for, and after scouring the very organized shelves they have not located it, they will offer to order it for you. If it is out-of-print, they’ll do their best to hunt one down for you.
If you are looking to sell used books to The Bookshelf, it is a simple process. Make a phone call to 944-BOOK and see if John is in and purchasing. If he is, you simply bring your books on down for him to look through. What he wants, he will set up in stacks on the counter, separated by the amount he is willing to pay for the book. Then he’ll make you an offer of cash or store credit, with the credit always being a higher amount.
Whether you are visiting or local, looking to buy used books or to sell them, The Bookshelf up in Moiliili is the place to go. For you tourists, it’s not far out of Waikiki at all, and if you need directions, simply give them a call. I’m sure whatever friendly person answers the phone will be happy to assist you.
As for me, I’m done writing for the day. It’s time to get back to my latest Bookshelf purchase, A Boy Called “It,” by David Pelzer. I can’t put it down, and they had all three books in the series. Aloha and happy reading.
