Downtown Honolulu Gets a New Bookstore at The Arts at Marks Garage

Books at Marks carries used books, comics, CDs, cassettes and vinyl records.

September 5, 2017

Ashley Mizuo,

Photo: David Croxford

Tucked inside The Arts at Marks Garage is the newest bookstore downtown. Run by the Friends of the Library of Hawai‘i, Books at Marks carries used books, comics, CDs, cassettes and vinyl records donated by the public and the Hawai‘i State Library at prices as low as $1. The workers in the store are all volunteers. This is the only place that Friends of the Library sells vinyl records besides its annual vinyl sale, according to director Nainoa Mau. While most of the merchandise is used, local and Mainland publishers often send books to Books at Marks. You can find a wide range of reading, from the popular Fifty Shades of Grey series to literary classics by Hemingway. All proceeds go to the Hawai‘i State Library for reading programs, Battle of the Books and the Nēnē Awards.

Books at Marks has a one-year lease in its current location, but “I would say we’re permanent,” says Mau. “We’ve been built into the space.” The store is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. except on First Fridays, when it stays open until 10.

This article appears in the September 2017 issue of HONOLULU Magazine.