The nearest thing I know of in the US to the Oxfam shops are the Carpe Librum pop-up stores in Washington, DC. They will operate for a few weeks--occasionally a

The nearest thing I know of in the US to the Oxfam shops are the Carpe Librum pop-up stores in Washington, DC. They will operate for a few weeks--occasionally a few years--in a building that is awaiting redevelopment. All books/tapes/cds are donated, all staff is volunteer. Working near one is a standing temptation to purchase piles of books. I guess that the Friends of the Library shops one sees at Montgomery County libraries are comparable. Neither has much reduced my urge to shop in the remaining second-hand bookshops. "[Graham Greene] and he remains one of the few serious literary figures who also understood the glamour and romance of the bookselling trade." Take that, Larry McMurtry! At least one other moderately known author had a used bookstore in Washington, DC, years ago. And Nancy Mitford worked for Heywood Hill in London for a while.