You can easily lose yourself for a few hours at Audreys Books, Edmonton’s oldest independent bookstore. You’ll find shelves stacked high with cookbooks, non-fiction and an unparalleled selection of books by Canadian authors. Look out for high-profile authors doing readings and talks down in the basement.
The much-loved Latitude 53 art gallery is also home to a small art bookshop that attracts those interested in the visual arts. There’s a well curated collection of art books, art magazines, journals and limited-edition collaborative items such as puzzles, candles and clothing. Well, and if you don’t find anything you like to buy, you can always view the gallery’s ever changing free exhibitions.
Wee Book Inn is one of the oldest used bookstores in Edmonton. This treasure trove for book lovers carries extensive fiction, biography and history books, as well as culinary collections that will make you drool. Shoppers will also be delighted by the small stash of records and CDs from a bygone era.
When it opens in the spring of 2022 in the historic Stovel Block, Glass Bookshop may be the most beautiful bookstore in the city. For the past three years or so, co-owners Matthew Stepanic and Jason Purcell have been selling books primarily online at pop-up events across the city. Now they’ve got their permanent location where customers can browse shelves holding books focusing on daring writing, underrepresented authors and independent publishers. This won’t just be a place to buy books though; it will be an important community hub and will hosts regular discussion groups and meet-ups.
More of a borrower? Head to the Stanley Milner Library, the jewel branch of the Edmonton Public Library. Yeah it’s a library with books spread over three floors, but it’s also home to one of the largest makers centre’s we’ve ever seen. You can use your card to use the 3D printers, sewing machines, recording studio and more. There’s even a gamers room with 16 stations. Did we mention it’s a library?