The Bookmark Bookstore / Friends of the Oakland Public Library

I love places like this. I'm a regular patron of my Cincinnati friends of the public library and I try to don't then in each city that I visit. This one is great! Books are cheap, selection is eclectic, staff is helpful, and it sounds like they're moving to a new location.

I've been working in downtown Oakland for the past five years and just now stopped in for the first time! I didn't know this bookstore existed until a co-worker told me about it. They had 4-6 carts outside full of books ranging from 50 cents to $1. There was a CD cart as well...I think they were $2. I spent $10 for ten books...score!!!

The staff were friendly and enthusiastic for me that I was able to find as many books as I did. They even let me know that on weekends, everything is additional 30% off, and that there will be a huge sale in October. I'll shall be a regular visitor!

What a gem of a book shop! While I do most of my reading nowadays digitally (thank you Libby), I still love a brick and mortar book store. Located in Old Oakland, the shop is situated on the first floor of a Victorian which gives it a cozy, old-timey, almost romantic ambiance.

They sell their book at very *very* fair prices. They often have $1 carts outside and most of their books inside seem to be around the $5-6 mark. I was surprised by the lovely selection they had on their $1 carts; usually massively discounted books are kinda meh but I purchased a NYT writer's memoir that was in mint condition and retailed for $16. Is that not a steal??

Their book selection is phenomenal. I'm used to spending an hour in used bookstores and not finding anything to take home, but I spent 10 minutes inside and had to stop myself from purchasing more than five books.

Staff are very friendly. Love that a portion of the proceeds go towards the Oakland Public Library system. They also sell CDs/DVDs, vinyls, posters, postcards, calendars, and prints.

Just FYI, $5 minimum credit card purchase.

"I'm analog in the digital world" ---Erykah Badu

I grew up in a small beach town in FLA. Had a wicked jump shot on the basketball team in high school. Loved hip hop. In college had the nickname hip hop yogi. I memorized & can still rap verbatim to this day countless hip hop songs including:
Beastie Boys- Sound of Science
Too Short- Gettin' It
Dead Prez- Be Healthy
Eminem- Lose Yourself
Rakim- Eric B. is President

Now that I am a city slicker yoga teacher.... MC Yogi is more the new paradigm am into yet those other hip hop songs are part of who I am.

I love the stellar Ethiopian cuisine in the East Bay as have several favorite spots. Nothing makes me more happy than eating a veggie combo by hand w/ injera bread as spent many moons abroad in India eating idili, dosa, & thali plates w/ my hands.

Love watching break dancers do their thing taking the BART train from the city into the East Bay. Reminds me of living in NYC seeing break dancers hold it down up in Harlem in the day. Break dancing is an element of hip hop.

I love books. I love the libraries of the Bay Area. I love the bookstores of the Bay Area.

I have my favorites. Classic City Lights in the city ...the first paper back bookstore ever that published my fav Howl by Allen Ginsberg, Green Apple in Richmond ...give yourself a couple hours as the personalized staff picks are amazing....Owl books in Piedmont near Timeless Coffee shop....could go on & on.....yet Bookmark in Old Oakland near 12th St BART station is my latest find. It is on 721 Washington St.

Can't compare oranges to apples to grapes e.g. LA to NY to SF as they are all different (see my review yesterday) yet simply put Bookmark is ah-mazing!

First all proceeds from the store support the Oakland Public Library. The books here are quirky. The books are affordable. Probably picked up about a dozen yesterday a wide range of spiritual titles from Trungpa Rinpoche to Amma ...the hugging saint of Kerela along w/ many, many other rare, hard to find titles.

Staff is friendly & helpful. While using kindle to have hundreds of books on one lightweight device is useful to the well read techie traveler & shopping on Amazon can be affordable....confess I am like Erykah Badu.....am analog in the digital world...

Nothing beats going to a bookstore & getting some amazing reads...bought from a local bookstore.

For a local resident of the SF Bay Area or a tourist or should say traveler...LOL...here is a program for you....take the BART train into 12th St BART...start early...walk around part or the whole of Lake Merritt....go to the Oakland Museum of CA...stellar exhibit there currently....have been to museums all over the world....in NY, LA, SF, Chicago, Paris, London, Japan, Detroit, & India ...yet the Oakland Museum of CA....is incredible ...well worth a visit...it is super interactive.....current exhibit will blow your mind

After the museum get a bite at Golden Lotus or Nature.....depending if you would like Vietnamese/Thai Asian fusion or Chinese....from there head a few blocks over to 721 Washington St to Bookmark to pick up a unique book for an enjoyable read, also have music, & postcards etc.

Again stellar bookshop. I'll be back!!!

Nice used bookstore. They sell donations and the proceeds go to the Oakland library. Good books can be found here and it's always nice to be able to reuse books or pass them along to others.

Old watches and books are rare gifts from the past. There's few things I like better than to find one, have and hold for a time, then gift to someone special with best hopes and wishes. This wonderous bookstore is a perfect spot to find gently loved gems in good to excellent condition. And for the simple escapist travel or commute read, there are well-priced used paperbacks from the current best seller list or not.

This spot is what a bookstore used to be, nicely groomed books and shelves tended by book lovers. Proceeds benefit the Oakland public libraries. Become a member of Friends of the Oakland Public Library for as little as $25 and receive a 20 percent discount on purchases.

Great prices! In such a cute block of Old Oakland, too.

Very friendly staff. Love that it benefits the library!

Got a used book for $5 that would normally be $12 used at Walden Pond or somewhere else in town.

The Friends of the Oakland Public Library operate this bookstore, which I wandered into while walking through downtown Oakland recently. The bookshelves with sale books on the sidewalk beaconed me in.

The store is not very large, but the shelves are very well organized and clean. As with all used bookstores, you can spend hours exploring the stacks to find a treasure or two. I found a barely used recent hardback book (published in 2016, cover price of $25) and purchased it for only $5. I also snagged a paperback novel for $1. There are even books as cheap is 50 cents, so bargain hunters can rejoice!

The volunteers here are also very nice and helpful. The cashier & I had a very nice conversation while she rang up my purchase.

I wandered into the Bookmark during a break from jury duty at nearby Wiley W Manuel Courthouse. I've taken to keeping a list of "to-read" books with me; I whipped it out immediately and started casing the well-organized shelves.

All told, I walked out with seven books for under $25: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett; A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore; Summer House by Nancy Thayer; Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See; The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels; The Great Man by Kate Christensen; and The Giant's House by Elizabeth McCracken. That's pretty much the book bargain of the year!

Staffed by volunteers, Bookmark proceeds help raise funds for the Oakland Public Library. This place is such a gem. If you like libraries (and supporting them), books and/or used bookstores, you'll love the Bookmark!

While visiting this store, I found some pretty interesting books on science and technology..
The prices are fantastically cheap.while the donated stock changes weekly. ...

This small bookstore is clean, well-lighted and superbly organized. For used books, the prices are quite fair. The conditions for most books ranged from average to good

As noted in the front of the store, all proceeds benefit the Oakland Public Library.

Interestingly, one gets a political-social feel of the city by looking at the used books that are being sold.

It is rare to find books that invoke new ideas, I am a big fan of the intellectual treasure hunt where the objective of the game is finding exotic and esoteric ideas that can be a possible game changer. Sometimes, one gets lucky. ...

Expected to spend some time, roaming the aisles, looking for "those ideas"

Support your local library and your local book store.

Good luck with your "idea" hunt.