Today I went in search of a decent place to exchange a book in Bogotá, Colombia. Being a large city with numerous popular hostels, I assumed any number of them would have a moderately good book exchange. I was mistaken. However, after visiting several hostels and asking for suggestions, I was told to visit Bogotá Bike Tours, which does indeed have many books. So, I started wondering if there is a site that lists good book exchanges around the world. So far, I haven’t found one.
Since this is a relatively new and not highly trafficked site, I am not sure many people will even see this page. But, my hope is that some will, that others will share it, and most importantly, that people will post suggestions for good book exchanges in places they live or have visited. If so, I will occasionally update the actual page to make it easier to see the suggestions (rather than having to read through the comments).
Central America
Panamá
Panama City
- Luna’s Castle, Calle 9na Este 3-28, Casco Viejo (San Felipe), Panama City
This hostel, probably the biggest and most popular in Panama City, actually has two book exchanges, a 1-for-1 open exchange and a “select” exchange of much higher quality whereby books to be exchanged must be approved as being of appropriate quality.
South America
Colombia
Bogotá
- Bogotá Bike Tours (Carrera 3, No 12-72 – so basically on Carrera 3 between Calle 12 and Calle 13)
This bike tour business also has a nice selection of books available for sale or though a 2-for-1 exchange. You can also buy a book for less money (typically 3000 pesos I believe) with a 1-for-1 exchange.
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Great idea! Thanks for starting the conversation. The one book exchange that I knew of in Shanghai has closed 🙁 But I'll be on the lookout for another one