This place is a landmark for the area. If you love books, actual books, then this place is worth a visit. It may look chaotic when you walk in (and it certainly is) but the owners know where everything is. Just ask them. I live in another state and visit family here. This is a "must see" for me any time I'm within 60 miles. read more

The bookstore is on the main street, my phone directed me to a dead end alley. i have seen the billboards for this bookstore for many y years and finally stopped. With my elderly mother in tow, we got lost in the bookstore. The woman who owns the place was awesome, and could talk books with my mom all day, mainly fiction and mysteries. there are probably tens of thousands of books. i'm a nonfiction type of guy, and there were just a couple of aisles for me. my mother purchased several books, and the prices were excellent. It is definitely worth a stop. We never made it to the basement. read more

Montana Valley Book Store - Newspapers & Magazines Near Me - Alberton, Montana

My favorite kind of bookstore isn't the one where you find exactly the book you were looking for. It's the one where you find the book you didn't even know existed. On the note, the Montana Valley Book Store in Alberton, Montana gets it just right. It's a little dusty, dimly lit, a bit disorganized. But it's packed with books new and old from floor to ceiling, and the smell of books hits you the moment you walk in the door. You'll want to explore on your own, but if you can't find something there's help available for the asking. The prices aren't always clearly marked but they're always reasonable - we left with five books and a map for a grand total of $32. The Montana Valley Book Store is a blink-and-you-miss-it stop along I-90. But if you're a bookstore geek like I am, it would be a shame to miss it. read more

Montana Valley Book Store - With an entrance like this, who could resist? - Newspapers & Magazines Near Me - Alberton, Montana

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This space is a book lovers dream! This is definitely my favorite book store of all time. The selection is almost overwhelming, but it's categorized so nicely and the owner knows where everything is if you need to find a particular book. She was super nice, as were the folks that passed through. I got a few great books and a Wayne Dyer audiobook for a great deal. It was the hardest store to leave; pretty much have to devote at least half a day here if your a bookaphile, but a good hour is plenty to take home some great reading material until next time. read more

Montana Valley Book Store - Newspapers & Magazines Near Me - Alberton, Montana

Oh lord do I love this place. An old house transformed into a treasure trove of books. This place is packed, more books than you can possibly look through. The lady who runs the place is a super nice and genuine person, always helpful and friendly. The variety of books in here is rather amazing as well, any genre you could want and priced fair. I stop in every time I am in the area, I even make a detour so I can burn a few hours here. read more

This is a great old bookstore filled with endless treasures. We love to stop here every time we drive through Montana if we are passing by during business hours. It is a bit of a tight squeeze because they have so many shelves packed in. This is the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of five. It is not very accessible for people with mobility issues. Sometimes things are a bit hard to find....but just like any bookstore the fun is in the search. I could poke around in there for hours. They even have a restroom which is great when you want more time to poke around. The restroom was clean and quaint. Also, the owner was very helpful in finding the perfect book for my daughter's friend. She wanted a horror book....but I wanted it to be a kid's book...not an adult book - since she isn't my kid. The owner found a very nice book filled with pictures and lots of information about paranormal and scary stuff. I felt it was much more appropriate book for a preteen than the ones the kids were finding. Hooray for the owner knowing what she has in stock. All in all a great place if you like to dig through stacks of books. There are tons of old books, rare books and even signed copies. read more

Absolutely love this used bookstore!! We traveled all the way from Coeur d Alene ID to visit. The young lady working was so helpful in showing us where to look. She was gracious enough to allow my 80+ year old father to exchange a few books he brought along. If I could give this store 10 stars I would!!! read more

Huge selection, helpful staff. One of my favorites for years. Just off the Interstate. read more

This place is quIte possibly the best bookstore I have ever visited. Over one hundred thousand book titles to choose from. And the best thing is that they all are pretty cheap; half the price of be new. Some of them even signed copies from the author. Karen, the lady who runs it was super helpful and very knowledgeable about her collection. I could've spent hours here! Definitely worth the stop if you are a bookworm. read more

Montana Valley Book Store - Newspapers & Magazines Near Me - Alberton, Montana

This is about as obscure as they come. Pushing 80 westbound along I-90 I caught glimpse of a road sign promising thousands of used books if only I'd get off at the next exit, make a right, and drive a mile or so into ramshackle Alberton. Figuring the locals had never seen a Swedish sports car before, I thought it might be educational for all parties and smartly turned on my right directional and slipped off the cruise control to make the exit now approaching at something like 100 feet per second. A tight right turn and a half mile through 'downtown' Alberton and I came across Montana Valley Book Store. As the billboard promised, it was in business and in fact, was open. What was a general store is now a floor-to-ceiling repository of books. Certainly thousands if not tens of thousands. So many, so high and somewhat dimly lit, it's almost impossible to fathom the amount of material here. This is not, Barnes & Noble - not even close. I poked around for a good 15 minutes when a door opened in the back and a woman came out asking if I needed any help finding something. No, I told her, I was just browsing and so I was. I didn't buy anything that day yet wish I had. Maybe it was the still hundreds of miles ahead that urged me on but if nothing else, I got a picture of a cute kitty. read more

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I discovered the Montana Valley Book Store long, long ago when I was a student at the U of M. One of my classmates needed to read Ignazio Silone's 'Bread and Wine' but was unable to find a copy of it in Missoula. Somebody at the U Bookstore suggested the Montana Valley Book Store in Alberton. I had a car, he had gas money, and we were on our way. What we found on that dark and rainy afternoon, along with a used copy of 'Bread and Wine' was thousands of used books in an old store in downtown Alberton.I use the term downtown loosely, because Alberton might have a population as high as 500 if you include all the people in greater suburban Alberton. The store has been around for a long time, and the current owner Karen is the daughter of the original owners. The shelves go to the ceiling and the place is crammed with books, but they're still nicely organized. Lots more books downstairs, but turn on the light and watch your step on those stairs. I drive back to Montana about once a year and my wife makes sure we always figure out a way to stop at the Montana Valley Book Store. read more

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I was in Alberton recently for a memorial. Why waiting for the event to begin, I wandered into this establishment. It is simply amazing. Floor to ceiling book fest. Very organized, and Proprietor Karen knows where everything is. I couldn't remember the author for the series I was looking for, but I knew the title for the first book. Karen knew instantly, and guided me to the section where they were tucked. She had the entire series and even some spares! And very reasonably priced. Do yourself a favor and wander in. read more

Wow, was this place ever worth the drive (only half an hour, on the freeway) out from Missoula. Old building with a basement, all of it packed with used books, particularly good on history and general fiction, ideal if you're looking for books from the 1950s-70s. And despite the decor, not at all musty or decayed. Takes credit cards, too. read more

Stopped in on our way home. Found several treasures and the gal working was so nice. Great selection of used books. If in the area again I'd surely be stopping in. read more

Sunday found us making the drive from Butte to Spokane, a rather direct route on I-90, seemingly without a lot to break up the trip (not to suggest that it is at all boring, in fact it is quite scenic, and you better pay attention as the road is rather windy for an interstate - I want to say it was the last one to have a barrier put up). As we approached the previously unheard of hamlet called Alberton, we saw a billboard advertising this shop, "with over 100,000 books to choose from". Given that we were making good time, and were seriously threatening to reach our destination before the standard 3:00 PM check-in time, we figured 'why not', and took the exit. I will mention that while looking for this place, you need to keep your eyes open. Granted, Alberton is by no means a metropolis, but it's a case of 'blink and you'll find yourself back on I-90'. But once you find it and go in, you will realize that this is one of the better tourist attractions around. You step in, and realize that practically every cubic foot is occupied by a book. And that's just the upstairs - the subterranean level is also filled to the brim, but in this case it's with used materials. The selection is bewildering - pretty much every topic ever written about is represented, including some that I hadn't realized existed. We managed to escape with our bill barely clearing $30, which is impressive considering we purchased nine books. I wonder if the store is where all the rejects go - and I mean that in the kindest way possible, because a lot of people's rejects are others' treasures. Although, I can't see too many people laying out even a smacker on a Bill Cosby book about love and marriage, unless it's a serious love for irony. read more

We had a day off and took a mini road trip from the Spokane area to look for an old copy of Spencer's Mountain by Earl Hamner. It was almost $30 to order from B&N. We got in and I browsed the hardcovers and sadly it wasn't there. The clerk overhead me talking to my husband and asked if we needed help. Once I told her I didn't find what I was looking for she quickly pointed me toward the paperbacks in the basement. Jackpot! I found exactly what I was looking for and for a whopping $1.50. Also, by the time I got back upstairs she had looked it up on Amazon to research and found the book was going for $22.95 online. She was very friendly and asked where we were heading. We are Geocachers and had let her know we were planning on looking for a few on the way home. She knew exactly what we were talking about and sent us off to a beautiful area where we found our first MT cache. We will most certainly be back! read more

Saw the sign on I-90 near Alberton, MT and stopped on our way to Yellowstone. What a great used bookstore! The sign said 100K books and they weren't kidding. The prices are not the lowest, but it restored my faith that Amazon has not completely destroyed the joy of discovery in shopping. Places like this need more customers to survive, so we didn't mind paying a little more. Came home with an eclectic mix of books we'd never find online: baby knitting patterns, a duck and goose cookbook, a field guide to wildlife organized by taxonomy, a field guide to trees, Mark Twain, Louis L'amour, a book on the Bayeaux Tapestry, plus more. It will be a regular stop whenever we travel through western MT (plus the huckleberry shakes in nearby St. Regis) read more

When I imagine voluminous libraries painted by Ray Bradbury's pen, this bookstore fits that nostalgic cemetery of hard and paper backs waiting for remembrance by a living soul. Despite a first glance of rows upon rows of books, one might feel both small and lost amid a labyrinth of printed word. However, there is an order to the overwhelmed shelves and miscellaneous book piles. An order that is both precise and infinite like Pi. I could stay here for hours, if not days, running my thumbs lovingly over titles that promise foreign worlds and endless human consciousnesses. I walked out of here with a good bundle of treasures wrapped neatly in a bag, my kind of fast food of thought. This place is now on my radar and will be visited if ever I should roam this way again. read more

A bibliophile's dream. A little store crammed with thousands and thousands of books. Lots of old paperbacks, some more recent current events/academic books, and a few collectible hardcover gems, including early twentieth-century translations of Gorky, for instance. Ended up walking out the door with a 1950s anarchist urban planning book, a history of Andean peasant justice, and a few classics of African American history. All for under $20. If you come in, don't forget to poke around in the basement. The staircase is in the back and easy to miss. read more

Stopped in to check out the Montana Valley Book Store on my way to Seattle. I couldn't help but notice the giant billboard on the way advertising the thousands of used books. When it came to selection this place didn't disappoint! Unfortunately I found most of the books generally overpriced and the service to be a little off. The folks working weren't the friendliest and the place is terribly unorganized, but I guess that's what happens when you cram thousands of books into a small house like setting. If you're in the area and a used book fan you should stop by and give them a try. Its a quick detour off the freeway so it shouldn't take you too far off the route, even if you don't find anything. read more

I absolutely love this little book store. You can find just about anything and if you can't find it definitely talk to Keren because she knows pretty much everything that is in there with over 100,000 books that gal is pretty amazing. I love finding hidden gems in that bookstore. read more

This charming little store has over 100,000 books to browse through. The proprietors were fantastic on both of my visits. This is a hidden treasure right off of the Alberton exit. Just make sure you have a few free hours because you will likely become happily lost in literary wonderland. read more