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Powell's City of Books

 hours | rare book room | bookbuying | ordering by phone
map & directions | take our online tour

STORE DESCRIPTION
Powell's City of Books is a book lover's paradise, the largest used and new bookstore in the world. Located in downtown Portland, Oregon and occupying an entire city block, the City stocks more than a million new and used books. Nine color coded rooms house over 3,500 different sections, offering something for every interest, including an incredible selection of out-of-print and hard-to-find titles.

Each month, the Basil Hallward Art Gallery (located upstairs in the Pearl Room) hosts a new exhibit, as well as dozens of author events featuring acclaimed writers, artists, and thinkers such as Roddy Doyle, Susan Sontag, Robert Olen Butler, Annie Leibovitz, and former President Jimmy Carter.

The City's Rare Book Room gathers autographed first editions and other collectible volumes for readers in search of a one-of-a-kind treasure.

Every day at our buyers' counter in the Orange Room, we purchase thousands of used books from the public. Powell's purchases special collections, libraries, and bookstore inventories as well.

A few facts about the City of Books:

• 68,000 square feet packed with books
• we buy 3,000 used books over the counter every day
• approximately 3,000 people walk in and buy something every day
• another 3,000 people just browse and drink coffee
• our parking garage provides space for 40 cars (ok, so there are bigger parking garages)
• we stock 122 major subject areas and more than 3,500 subsections
• you'll find more than 1,000,000 volumes on our shelves
• approximately 80,000 book lovers browse the City's shelves every day, in Portland and via the Internet. So is our mother ship the world's largest bookstore? Heck, it may be bigger than your whole town.

For those who'd like a closer look at what the Washington Post called "perhaps the best bookstore in the world," we've created a special online tour to simulate an in-store visit, presenting some fifty photographs along the way. If you're in the local area, we also offer walking tours of the City to individuals and groups. You can also browse our store map online in .PDF format.

If you've already placed an order for a book via our website and would like to check on its status, please email the internet office at help@powells.com.

World Cup Coffee & Tea at Powell's City of Books
While in the store, stop by World Cup Coffee & Tea to enjoy handcrafted coffee drinks and premium organic teas; pastries, sandwiches, cookies a delicious assortment of cold beverages, and more! World Cup is a local family owned company that has been in the coffee business for over 20 years, roasting since 1993, and crafting drinks in their cafes since 1999. You can also find World Cup Coffee & Tea at our Cedar Hills Crossing store.

ORDERING BY PHONE

Though many people order books directly from the web page, many use the web page to look for books, then reach our Call Center and order it by phone.

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