Recycled Reads, the Austin Public Library used bookstore on Burnet Road, will close by next spring if the proposed city budget is approved.
The store opened in 2009 as a way to help raise money for Austin's library system. Anna Paola Ferate-Soto has worked at the store since 2021. She said the concept has also kept tons of books and other material out of local landfills.
But the store could close its doors when its lease ends next March. The change is part of the proposed city budget for 2026. Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax presented a balanced $6.3 billion budget to City Council that would eliminate an expected $33 million deficit.
Broadnax said he was able to cut away at the deficit in several places, including overtime pay for Austin Police, staffing changes for Austin Fire and ending some building leases.
Ending the lease for where Recycled Reads is located now would save the city $107,000 next year. But that doesn't mean the spirit of the store would cease to exist.
Baylor Johnson, a spokesperson for the Austin Public Library, said if the store closes next spring, the library would expand the Recycled Reads experience to branches throughout the system, instead of one centralized location.
A vast inventory
Wandering the Recycled Reads aisles, you'll find shelves filled with books, music, movies, board games and puzzles. There's everything from the Lord of the Rings trilogy to The Scarlet Letter and language books, cookbooks, crafting and home improvement books to vintage sheet music, vinyl records, CDs and cassette tapes.
Most of it is sold for $2 or less.
The collection is a mix of unused materials that comes from Austin Public Library branches and community donations. Ferate-Soto said that is what makes some of the materials distinct.
“A lot of the time we get incredibly unique stuff,” she said. “Professors that are retiring bring their materials, and they want to find a place where people will appreciate them. Or some people that have passed away. Their loved ones bring their library to us, and they hope that other people can partake in the richness that their loved ones left behind.”
While there is plenty of stuff for sale at Recycled Reads, the staff also operates as a hybrid library, including tools and equipment to check out, a passport office and a seed library.
“This is a library where people come and buy affordable materials and materials they might not find anywhere else,” said Ferate-Soto, who is also a librarian with Austin Public Library.
The money raised has helped purchase the Bookmobile, a library on wheels that provides access to materials in various places across the city, she said.
But not every book can find a home. So, the bookstore works with Goodwill to move some inventory to local stores. Ultimately, if the books can't find a home, they go through a recycling process that keeps them out of landfills.
Expanding the program
Many of Austin's library branches already have a small section of used books and media for sale. Johnson said if the Burnet location of Recycled Reads closes, these small sections will grow and try to embrace what has made Recycled Reads so special.
“We’re definitely working on developing processes to try to make sure that what has made Recycled Reads unique is replicable throughout the system,” Johnson said. “But I think one of the benefits of trying to decentralize it is it means that more people will have access to it.”
Additionally, he said all the staff and programming at the Burnet Road location would all be moved into other branches. The Yarborough branch is just a few blocks away.
But the change won’t happen until the city council approves the budget. If adopted, Johnson expects sales to stop early next year, but said a timeline is still being developed. The budget adoption is not expected to happen until August.
