Vigilant Bookshop
Vigilant Books sells quality used books and new books about the Ohio Valley or by local authors. We sell a variety of books, including novels, history, science, bio-graphy, local history, kids books, cooking, travel, the arts and philosophy. Our col-lection about NASA, space and astronomy is outstanding. We also have a lending library of books about writing, since we want to encourage budding authors so we will always have new books on our shelves.
Our prices are lower than Amazon’s, especially when you include Amazon’s $3.99 postage. At Vigilant you can browse actual books, picking them up to enjoy their smell and the feel of their covers and pages. And unlike Amazon you can look at every page while sitting comfortably and sipping a drink. Like all bookstores our prices depend on the rarity of a book and its condition. Our books are typically good, very good and like new.
We invite book clubs, Scouts, writing groups, political clubs, history groups and other interesting organizations to buy a tea, coffee or pastry and meet in our Thoughtful Space conference room.
We Need Books!
Where do used bookstores get books? Mostly from you, our patrons and friends. A number of folks have already made welcome donations of books they no longer want (they need to make space for new purchases), and we invite many more such gifts. We cannot (generally) buy books from you, but like most used book shops we offer store credit (no cash) that you can use to buy books you can’t wait to read. Here is how it works. You bring in one to 20-30 books and I will look at them and decide how much credit they are worth. It doesn't matter what the books originally cost, only how much I think I can sell them for.
The books must be in good condition, with dust jackets for ones that came with them. All books must be fresh and clean looking with no markings on the books' pages — no highlighting, under-lining, or writing in the margins. We do not need out-of-date computer manuals, travel guides, or textbooks. Also we do not take
• Magazines
• Soiled, stained, creased, mildewed, water damaged, or shopworn books
• Obsolete, outdated, defunct, or otherwise irrelevant titles
• Time Life or Reader’s Digest.
One bookseller who has been in the business for a long time has a delightful curmudgeonly statement of what books he won't buy - Vigilant's policy is pretty similar, but we would never say it his way: Enjoy!
If you haven't been in a real bookstore lately you may have forgotten how much more enjoyable that experience is compared to searching for books online. The chart above shows the handicap that Amazon works under - they have no advantage other than having more books than the Vigilant does, although our collection is curated so as not to waste your time with junk.
Vigilant Bookstore
An evocative painting by Wheeling artist Janet Hart showing the coming Vigilant Bookshop, complete with a bookstore cat in upper right window.