About the Montclair Book Center

The Montclair Book Center has been a part of the downtown Montclair scene since late 1984. Opened by Peter Ryby as a branch of the Passaic Book Center, a now closed, but legendary book and comic bookstore. Beginning on a much smaller scale, MBC has grown significantly to include three levels and two buildings full of books, featuring titles that range from classic literature to popular fiction as well as collector’s items. We are now, proudly, one of the largest independent bookstores in New Jersey!

By combining new, used, and rare inventory, the Montclair Book Center carries an incredibly wide array of books. Organized and arranged by category, our store is great for hours of browsing or finding exactly the book you want right now. With new ownership at the helm, we have taken to offering our space for a litany of community events. Most notably, we have bi-weekly Author Reading Events, our very own Book Club, an ongoing Comedy Series, sporadic Art Shows, an Easter Egg Hunt, Haunted House, Holiday Heist, and so much more. We encourage those of you with event ideas to drop by and discuss with us the potential of hosting.

MBC has always had its focus on the printed words, but offers much, much more. We also carry a fantastic selection of vinyl records and CDs in many musical genres. Additionally, you can find journals, tarot cards, puzzles, and gifts for book lovers of all kinds.

Feel free to contact us for more details including information about our future plans, follow us on Instagram @montclairbookcenter, or sign up for our Monthly Newsletter!

Book Donations and Trade-Ins -- Email First

Conditionally, the Montclair Book Center accepts books as donations or trade-ins.

For starters:

  • Only on extremely rare occasions will we pay cash for a book or books.
    • An example of what this means is a signed, first-edition of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.
  • We only accept 20-50 books at one time.
    • We do not currently make house calls or do appraisals.
  • We do not accept same-day donations or trade-ins, and do not evaluate books over the weekends.
    • If you try to drop in with the intention of giving us books without forewarning, there's a high likelihood you'll be turned away.
  • Please email us a photo of your books to info@montclairbookcenter.com with the spines of your books facing the camera for our consideration.
    • We will correspond via email regarding our interest and the possibility of an appointment date and time.
  • We do not accept textbooks, dated reference material, or books that have no resale value.
    • We only provide credit at our discretion, based on the condition and genres of the books presented to us.

Here's a little more detail about the process:

  • Donations are exactly as they sound.
    • You give us books for free and we thank you very much.
  • We allow you to trade good or better condition books for in-store, new and used book credit.
    • The credit is not good for consignment books, any of the music, or other merchandise.
  • The credit doesn’t expire, and is stored in our computer system attached to your name.
    • Just tell us you have credit at checkout, provide us with your last name, and our system should do the rest!
  • As of 2026, we have instituted a maximum credit limit of $300.
    • If you currently have over $300, you'll keep what you have accrued, but we won't accept any more of your books until it dips below that amount.

To reiterate, here are some books and materials we do not take in include:

  • Magazine Catalogues
  • Encyclopedias
  • Textbooks
  • Dated reference (travel guides, old computer books, old business books, old diet books, etc.)
  • Modern hardcover fiction, with the exception of Stephen King, whose fans will ravenously purchase him in any and all formats
  • Many used kids' books (we are extra strict on the condition of these books)

Some books we love to take in:

  • Philosophy
  • Occult/Esoterica
  • Spirituality
  • Paperback fiction (classics and contemporary)

Of course, final evaluations are based on books' condition and genre.

Questions, comments, or concerns?

If you have any questions regarding this process, don't hesitate to call or email us first! Afterwards though, we kindly request you follow this process as closely as you can to help keep us organized and efficient. Thank you!

Directions to Montclair Book Center 
A map of part of Montclair, with a star representing the location of the store at the intersection of Glenridge Avenue and Bloomfield Avenue near North Fullerton Avenue.

From the North – Take the Garden State Parkway South to the Watchung Ave (exit 151). Make a right onto Watchung Avenue; travel about 1 miles west until you come to a traffic light at Grove Street (on the left hand corner is the Marlboro Inn). Make a left onto Grove Street, continuing going south, you will go over a set of railroad tracks, continue to the second traffic light after the tracks which is Glenridge Ave. Make a right onto Glenridge and we are about 3 blocks up on the right.

From the South – Take the Garden State Parkway North to the Bloomfield Ave (exit 148). You want to go west on Bloomfield, but as you can not make a left at the traffic light at the end of the ramp, continue through the light and make a U-Turn at the next intersection. At the traffic light make a right onto Bloomfield Ave. Continue going west on Bloomfield Ave. for about 2 miles you will come to a traffic light at North Willow Street, turn right onto North Willow and then the first left onto Glenridge Ave. We will be about 2 blocks on the right.

From the West – Travel east on Route 46, take the Route 3 exit, and then the first exit (Grove Street) after you have merged onto Route 3. Turn right traveling South on Grove Street about 4 miles you will go over a set of railroad tracks, continue to the second traffic light after the tracks this is Glenridge Ave. Make a right onto Glenridge and we are about 3 blocks on the right.

From Manhattan and Points East – Take the Lincoln Tunnel out of Manhattan and then take the Route 3 exit, traveling west. Continue on Route 3 until you come to the Grove Street exit. Make a left onto Grove Street traveling south. Travel South on Grove Street about 4 miles you will go over a set of railroad tracks, continue to the second traffic light after the tracks which is Glenridge Ave. Make a right onto Glenridge and we are about 3 blocks up on the right.

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