Laredo Travel Answers

Are you coming only as far as Laredo? There is a great chain of used book stores called "Half Price Books" (halfpricebooks.com/find_a_st..., but it looks to me that the closest to Laredo may be the ones in San Antonio. Hey, it's just 150 miles or so...that's nothing for Texas ;-) Bill

I heard an NPR story a few months ago about the last book store in Laredo closing. It was a B. Dalton (shopping mall chain) and that meant no more book stores in the rather large city. So I think San Antonio is the closest, especially for used books.

It seems that Laredo isn't the best place for the budget book lover. You might try the thrift Stores, such as Goodwill or St Vincent De Paul, these type of places usually offer used books. Time consuming, but another possibility would be Swap-Meets/Flea Markets or yard sales. Also, have you considered e-bay? There are loads of English language, used books for sale at great prices and it's faster and easier to sort out than at the shops you have to physically go to.

Odd that you should ask... Here's a quote from the Wikipedia article on Laredo: "After the Laredo B. Dalton in the Mall del Norte closed on January 16, 2010, Laredo had no more bookstores left in the city limits. Laredo became one of the largest cities in the United States without a bookstore. The closest major bookstore is in San Antonio, Texas, 150 miles (240 km) from central Laredo."

Hi Bill, 150 miles does not sound like much but after driving 12 hours from the middle of Mexico I think another 150 miles might not be practical. Thanks anyway. Jerry

Hey Jerry, what about towns next to and near Laredo? They might have used bookstores. I can't imagine a void of used book stores within that 150 miles. Also, libraries sometimes sell books at really great prices. I don't know about in Laredo, but worth checking out local libraries there and in the surrounding area.

Laredo is the big city in the area, the other towns are much smaller and very rural until one gets to San Antonio, which although being 150 miles away, is a little less than 2 hours one way.

Oh! Thanks Dave. I just read your comment, "The closest major bookstore is in San Antonio, Texas,...." and thought that "major" was not really what most used bookstores are considered, so thought there might be something in the outlying area that would qualify. Sorry :-)

"which although being 150 miles away, is a little less than 2 hours one way. " This is you a hint as to how fast TexasDave drives ;-) (and at that, he's probably getting passed by a lot of people)... Bill

That stretch of road is practically an Autobahn.