Bibliohead Bookstore
Category: Bookstores [Edit]
Neighborhood: Hayes Valley334 Gough Street
(between Fell St & Hayes St)
San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 621-6772
- Hours:
Mon-Tue 12:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Wed-Thu 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Sun 12:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. - Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
29 Reviews for Bibliohead Bookstore
One of Bibliohead Bookstore's Favorite Reviews
Cool, small, bookstore! They have great prices, and great atmosphere. Its fun to just hang out and browse. Also, the clerk (I guess he is the owner, seeing as he's always there) was playing the Blade Runner soundtrack the other day. Word. He didn't even laugh at me when I went and bought a bunch of really embarrassingly bad fantasy novels.
Selection can be a little bit limited, but seeing as the store is small, thats to be expected.
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i hate how everytime i go into a bookstore i forget what i wanted to buy. but i guess thats good since it causes me to spend more time in there admiring the nicely designed spines all around the store.
i ended up not buying anything, but it made me want to go back, so i think it did it's job.
Not what you would call a vast selection but a cozy atmosphere and friendly staff make up for what they lack. They have a lot of odd finds. And, every time I go in here they have the best music playing. If I'm in the neighborhood I love drinking my coffee and losing myself in search for the next great read.
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When I was at Christopher Elbow's store I noticed Bibliohead Bookstore across the street so we went.
They had many books outside for like $3, I could have found something if I tried.
Inside are tons of new & used books. I wanted "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollen but they only had a New copy, but I wanted Used. Oh well.
Might be worth your time to check it out. Not a big store, but it's crammed with books.
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ME NO BORDERS 'HO!
ME NO BORDERS 'HO!!!
ME NO BORDERS 'HO!!!!!
I've got to admit my one disappointment in living where I do in SoMa is not having a neighborhood bookstore in which to loiter and pretend I have a greater intellect than I do. The lucky denizens of Hayes Valley have Bibliohead, a compact, eclectic place close to Stelline's on Gough. I often forget it's there except my eyes always veer toward the prominent bargain bin when I'm strolling by.
It reminds me most of Browser Books on Fillmore, a similarly space-challenged store, though I have to say Bibliohead is not quite as friendly. Actually, between you and me, the friendliest staff in the city can be found at the Books Inc. on Market in the Castro, and they also have random seating for you to hang out for a while. I sure wish Bibliohead had enough space for chairs, but an easy saunter through the shelves can be rewarding with your Blue Bottle latte in hand.
It's really not that I have that much against Borders...seriously. I use them when I want a popular book or a reference manual in a pinch. I just don't have much in common with the suburban moms and twentysomething slackers who sit on all the available mobile footstools. But we need to support our indies, the quiet entrepreneurs who manage to survive the deep discounts and massive marketing blitzes of the corporate giants because...
ME NO BORDERS 'HO!!!!!
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Cute little book store. Great prices on used books, a decent selection, and very friendly staff. They had the very book I was searching for (after having gotten serious 'tude from City Lights..yeah okay IT'S NOT ON THE SHELF..don't tell me it is yet refuse to go look..jerk..) anyway..they had it for 7 dollars hardback.
Rock
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I never had a diary when I was younger, because a) I am not a girl and b) despite what you call "evidence" to the contrary and what I call my "quirkiness", I am not a homosexual, closeted or otherwise. I know, I know, and I ask myself everyday, "WHY MUST I BE CURSED WITH THE EXCRUCIATING PAIN OF HETEROSEXUALITY?!?!" It hurts, people, IT HURTS SO BAD!
But let's face it, I ain't exactly Captain Heteronormative. And this is how a typical diary entry of mine would have read.
Dear Diary,
I was watching TV today again. Because that's all I know how to do as a kid from the suburbs. I was watching MTV's The Grind and Full House and Charles in Charge and 97 episodes of Saved By the Bell on KTLA 5 and TBS and WGN. And then I watched an episode of Sally Jesse Raphael because there was this one white woman who claimed that this black guy was the father of her baby and she brings the kid out and I KID YOU NOT HE IS A CHINK but I guess that people in the Midwest don't know what Asians look like because she thinks this kid is black.
And that's it. This is how my mind works as a kid growing up in my oversaturated media hyped life. Because I've grown up with television and radio and now the internet and pagers and beepers and visual advertisements and magazines and there is literally not one second of my physically under-stimulated yet mentally excessive life that I am not bombarded with images of how to act and what to think and how to feel. And I am so overwhelmed with mental stimulation that I've forgotten what pain and what love and what emotion and what *FEELING* is supposed to be.
I'm going to read a book. And listen to the Cure. And cut myself.
Sincerely,
Ed
Bibliohead is my small neighborhood bookstore and it doesn't have the most extensive selection but when I am here, perusing the knickknacks and architecture books and urban planning section and the $2 used paperback fiction boxes and the racks of sociology studies and I am amongst people who also love to read and love books and art and literature and discussion and intelligence, I finally remember what it is like to *feel* again in our high-tech media-digitized world.
People thought this was:
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I am so glad I found this place! I was just casually walking by when I decided to poke my head in and the next thing you know I have been in there for close to an hour. They have a great selection of rare used theater, photography, and art books that make me want to go back right now. My only complaint is that the shelves could be much more organized for easy navigation (the cardboard dividers were not of my liking). The prices are reasonable. I walked out with two Felini screenplays and a few greeting cards for around 15 bucks.
It's not the largest book store you'll find, but it's got a great variety of popular books and unknowns. I loved perusing the shelves, searching aimlessly for interesting knowledge. I didn't find anything I particularly thought I needed, but noted that the prices are so freakin' awesome!! My lady, on the other hand, found exactly what she wanted at a great price. We'll certainly be back to this charming information purveyor.
since a clean well lighted place for books closed, this has become my favorite literary treasure hunting spot.
I like the name of this bookstore and some of the used books they have. Sad to say that Acorn Books on Polk Street is no longer, and they had the BEST used art books in good condition. Oh well.
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This is a charming little Hayes Valley shop that is perfect for any bibliophile out there (hence the name, I suppose).
Bibliohead is dusty and filled with new and used titles (mainstream and obscure). Every time I go in there they have some nice music rocking lightly (Sufjan just the other day) and the lone staff member will let you browse for hours.
I'd give it five stars, except they didn't have a copy of Egger's "A Heartbreaking Work for Staggering Genius" when I really needed it. Curses. Somewhat understandable, given the size of the shop, but come on this is San Francisco, man!
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This is where I killed time before a late dinner reservation on a Friday night. I've finished browsing all the offerings in Hayes Valley in about 5 minutes, including all 12 aisles at Walgreens. Thankfully, I stumbled upon Bibliohead, where I could get off the streets and not look like a degenerate social reject wandering around aimlessly while the rest of the world was socializing normally and stuffing their faces with their network of cronies.
The proprietor left me alone to browse in peace, even though I hung around for a suspiciously long time, pretending to be captivated by every section of the store. I finally left with two paperbacks.
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Good small used bookstore, almost European in feel somehow (I am not sure why....vaguely reminds me of Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, even though the space is not at all comparable. I think it might be the shelving.). Good literary fiction section with some unusual finds. The carts out front display books that have been severely discounted...I flipped open a slim collection of short stories and saw it was only $2.
Sadly, I am restraining my book buying for awhile (at a certain point, the number of unread books in my room passes from the ridiculous to the absurd...I am definitely at the absurd stage now). I will probably check out Bibliohead again when I am back to buying books (although I could easily spend a good three years cloistered in my room reading one unread book after another).
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I call it Bibli O'Head. But that's just me. :) I want to give a shout out because this was the first used bookstore I stumbled into in SF, and I remember being pretty impressed with it. A little time has passed, though, and in the meantime, I've run around with the likes of Green Apple and Black Oak Books. Now it's tough to go back to Bibli O'Head. There's good fiction to be found, for sure, but a few of the sections are verging on pitiful (I mean you, travel and cookbooks). On the flip side, if you're looking for an old and out of print ballet book (as I was), or if you're looking for children's books, you just might score.
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Bilbiohead has the most unique children's book collection of childhood favorites strewn throughout the back room/area. Grab one of the two little stools and flip through treasure after treasure.
Also, make sure to skim the books for real cheap out front, I've found some interesting material for mere quarters. Need less to say this bookstore is an asset to the Hayes Valley.
Having worked at a big box bookstore and a small independent bookseller, nothing makes me happier than yet another small indy bookshop with excellent service and personable staff willing to connect with you as a reader. I enjoy stopping by Bibliohead when I'm in the hood to check out the gently worn books as well as the staff selections. Sweet kids section, fully stacked with quality items not otherwise seen in more overpopulated and bloated shops.
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Small but not too cramped. The selection was unspiring, but this is a used bookstore, so I'll come back next time I'm in Hayes Valley to see if they have anything that excites me. The proprietor kind of sat in the corner of the counter and ate her lunch while I walked in and strolled around; then kind of ignored me as I walked out. I had my headphones on, so the benefit of the doubt says that she was busy eating and I was busy listening to my tunes, so we both didn't want to be bothered.
Good used bookstore close to my house. Small, and not much of a sf/f section (and why don't used bookstores have romance sections anymore?) but a good literature/fiction section. I like the name and I like the feeling of books overflowing the shelves.
Two things bring this above the usual second-hand SF bookshop: a tighter focus and a really nice children's book selection.
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Groovy little second-hand bookstore. I can't get enough of places like this. If you like Dog-eared books and the like, check this place out.
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"Uh, hello there. *ahem*. Do I really have to say this? I do? OK. (Deep Breath). *ahem*. Hi. My name is Thomas and ... and ... I ... uh ... I am addicted to buying books."
There, now. That wasn't so tough. I fucking love books. And if ever you find yourself in my pad, you will be able to see for yourself just how much I love books. In fact, if you don't watch your step, you will probably trip over them. Yep, they're EVERYWHERE, in great stacks on the floor, spilling out of my six bookcases, under my bed, falling off of my desk, yikes, and there are books in some of my kitchen cupboards. I have books hiding between the cushions of my sofa, books behind the TV, and a plethora of tomes covering my fancy-schmancy glass "dining room" table. Dining room is kind of a joke. I hardly ever cook -- though I do know how. I even have a few cookbooks that never get used. Shit, I just realized that there's a book I left out on the patio that is probably soaked to shit right now. Probably too late for that little guy, so I'll scoop it up and deposit it in the proper trash receptacle on my way out for my cup of joe and my self-imposed 1000 words typed per day rule. (This is the beautiful thing about working out of the home.) No "hours."
What the fuck was I talking about? Oh, yeah. BOOKS. Well, Haye's Valley has a darling little shop that purveys BOOKS, and it's called Bibliohead. What a cool little place! Makes me want to sit down on a children's stool with a passionately used edition of The Human Anatomy and flip through it, while the wind rages outside and the raindrops are flying HORIZONTAL, yo. Comfortable, homey, a little dusty (the way any self-respecting bookstore should be), and stocked with some great old books you'll never ever find in one of those Big Box jokes with names like Bored-er.
Goddamn, I need to fix my need. Shit! I just stubbed my toe on L'Etat Des Stocks by Enki Bilal! That's a heavy fucker and maybe I'll lose my pinkie-toe nail. Hope not. I must remember to get the books out of my sink before I brush my teeth. Not long ago, I forgot about the book in the kitchen sink and turned on the garbage disposal. Nice move, T. Now you got soggy confetti with your ground coffee. I NEED MORE BOOKS.
Thank you, Bibliohead, for being there for me. I wonder how many more books I can lodge in my palm plant before it falls over?
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I was delighted to see Bibliohead move in to the neighborhood. They have a great selection of both new and used books. They've bought about 100 books from me, and I take the store credit and... well, yes, buy more books. It definitely cuts down on the cost of my reading habit.
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i like the name so much bibliohead, BIBLI-O-head. It's near to blue bottle which makes it the perfect lazy place to wander into while sipping happily. i keep trying to go back. the problem has been a lousy fiction selection. the nice owner says she's actively trying to buy up the good stuff--so gentle readers if you're sellin', she's buyin'.
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Tiny little store, but a good selection of books. The prices seem a little high on some of their used books, but it may just seem that way because I don't currently have an income.
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I walk by this store very often and the sales people have the most interesting books on display that draw me in 90% of the time. I've bought a book here that depicts what famous artwork would look like if the nudes were clothed (tongue-in-cheek commentary on censorship and art), and a book of clever dirty limericks (Valentine's day gift). They have great used books, especially old editions, and of course, newer books that are used and reasonably priced (Harry Potter!).
A cute little bookstore in a neat part of town. Pretty good selection for a store of its size. The prices aren't low enough to cause me to spontaneously start buying, unlike some of the other used book stores in the area.
Just the right size bookstore... not so big that you get a headache from the realization that you will never read all the books you want to in life, but a good selection so you can find what you are looking for. Particularly awesome selection of foreign language books... particularly French. Great Kids book section too. The owner is super helpful and can make recommendations about other things you might like as well. We ended up with twice as much books as we meant to buy... but we love them all.
local bookstore, not much to say here.
used books are always a plus. well organized and clean.
their buisness card is very cool.
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