Tucked into a quiet little strip on Spring Garden Street, Roger March shuffles between stacks of books on wooden bookcases he crafted himself. He pulls old bindings off the shelves, carefully placing them on the desk at the front of his 1,000-square-foot shop. One thick, palm-sized, and leather-bound manuscript has weathered pages inked in carefully scrawled German.
He thinks it’s at least 400 years old.
“I showed this to a couple of priests yesterday,” he says, opening the text.
At the front of the book, “Anno 1625,” is penned in red ink.
He hasn’t priced or catalogued the book yet. When he does, he suspects, it’ll be one of the rarest and oldest pieces he’s come across.
For the last 29 years, March has been the sole proprietor of Pages Past Used and Rare Books in Greensboro. Through his doors drift in all kinds of old and vintage texts from 1800s military accounts to a medical handbook from the 1750s.
“I love books. I love old stuff. I love old books,” March says.
Since the secondhand store McKay’s relocated to Mebane last year, used books have been harder to come by in Greensboro. But on opposite ends of Spring Garden Street, two used bookstores—one old and one new—are anchoring the landscape of well-worn and well-loved works.
“Used bookstores are just cooler,” said Julie Wade, the owner of The Second Hand Book, which opened last month. “You can find, I don’t know, bizarre things.”
New Beginnings
About a mile from Pages Past, near UNCG’s campus, Wade sits in her new shop, thumbing through a stack of books. Situated next to ReCycles Bike Shop, The Second Hand Book celebrated its grand opening just a few weeks ago.
“I had been thinking about opening a brick-and-mortar on and off this whole time, but knowing that I couldn’t afford it,” Wade said.
For years, she ran a bookmobile—Snake, Rabbit, and Snail—which gave away children’s books. She would do occasional pop-ups and donate books to women’s shelters. In 2021, she pivoted to selling at local craft fairs and markets. But she always wanted to have her own storefront.
“Basically, every time I had to unload my car and carry five heavy crates of books or pull a giant aluminum tent out of my car, I would think, ‘What would happen if I had a brick-and-mortar?’” she said.
Then, one of ReCycles’ owners told her about the newly vacant space.
“I actually didn’t think it would happen,” she said.
Throughout her life, Wade has been involved in the business one way or another.
As a child, her family would visit used bookstores downtown, and her mother would take her to stores wherever they went. When Wade moved to Asheville in 2002, she started working at Malaprop’s Bookstore and Cafe and then at Downtown Books & News for a decade. When she lived in Greensboro in 2008, she worked at what became McKay’s.
“People aren’t getting what they need from buying books online,” she said. “I know you get them cheaper, but you don’t get to see this. You don’t get to feel the books.”
The number of independent bookstores in the U.S. fell by about 40% between the mid-90s and 2009, according to the American Booksellers Association. Digital readers and online retailers, like Amazon, changed the book-buying landscape and threatened the future of physical stores. But that’s changing.
There was a 31% increase in bookstores in the U.S. last year, according to the ABA’s 2024 annual report. Most of those were physical storefronts.
Secondhand stores fill a niche gap, Wade said. The rising cost of goods, rent, housing, and healthcare means people have less to spend on non-essentials. Buying used is cheaper, she said.
“I try to keep things on the lower end,” she said. “You can find a book in here for like $3 and usually not over $12. I personally can’t afford to buy new books. That’s why I love used bookstores.”
A rare edition of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye is proudly displayed in a glass display case at $40. But that’s rare, she said.
Wade doesn’t trade in rare editions or antiques. She likes to find texts that draw her eye, are unique, and sometimes bizarre.
She’s got a whole stack of old mass-market horror books with illustrated covers and also erotic horror books she found at a sale. A book on the history of AIDS sits near affordable copies of 1984 and Animal Farm. She also has a dedicated section for zines. It’s eclectic but interesting, she said.
“You might not be able to find what you want when you come in,” she said. “I might not have exactly what you’re looking for, but if you look around, you might find something else.”
For rare books, she points people to Pages Past. In fact, when she thinks of the quintessential bookstore, that’s the shop that comes to mind.
“I just like that it’s cramped and dark and dusty,” Wade said. “I love that. It’s magic to me.”
A Window Into the Past
Like Wade, March has a history with used books. Originally from Suffolk, Va., he worked at a small antiquarian bookshop called Smithfield Rare Books for years. He took the books from his old shop with him when he moved to North Carolina after college. He kept the volumes in storage and sold them over the phone. Then the internet opened up a whole new side of his operation.
These days, March says, selling online is how he does about 75% of his business. Because his focus is on antique and rare books, collectors find his shop on places like eBay, AbeBooks, Biblio, and Amazon. The rest of his sales come from foot traffic.
“We get browsers in here,” he says. “But most of my work is on the computer.”
Those who have never visited the store are missing a bibliophile’s dream. Like Paris’s Shakespeare and Company, Pages Past has the smell and sensory experience that only true book-lovers fully appreciate. The shop is narrow with alcoves featuring different genres like history, genealogy, and nature. The books are old, many of them bound in leather with gold lettering on the sides.
“Each bookshop has its own personality, its own niche,” March says.
When asked if he thinks his shop is a reflection of his own personality, March laughs.
“It’s cluttered,” he says. “Which is kind of like me.”
But while the shop may appear disorganized, March is a walking encyclopedia of its catalogue. He can rattle off his rarest sales and remember which collections came from which people.
And his own collection is ever growing.
“Unfortunately, when you open a shop, you keep buying books,” he said.
Next door, he has about 50,000 books still uncatalogued.
Looking to the future, March said he’ll do his best to sell books both online and in person; he understands the importance of physical bookstores. In the three decades that March has been running Pages Past, he’s watched shops come and go in Greensboro.
“It has changed,” he said. “I’ve known a lot of booksellers around here. It used to be easier to open shops.”
March remembers Glenwood Coffee and Books run by Al Brilliant, The Browsery Used & Rare Books, and The Book Trader downtown. Then there was Addam’s University Bookstore on Tate Street and Empire Books on Spring Garden. That’s why he’s happy new shops like The Second Hand Book are opening up.
Wade feels similarly. When she considered opening her store, she called March to give him a heads up. They expressed their support.
“The bookshop serves a very special role,” March said. “On one hand, it’s a bridge from the past to the future. It contains the souls of the writers. And a bookshop also can become a place of community.”
Pages Past is located at 1837 Spring Garden St. and is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. every day except Sundays. Call (336) 574-1877 for more info. The Second Hand Book is located at 908 Spring Garden St. and is open 12-4 p.m., Wednesday-Friday. Email dirtybooks4u@gmail.com for more info.