Buffalo Street Books

One of my new favorite book stores. Went in with my family for a wonderful signing by author Signe Pike. She was simply fantastic and it was one of the best book signings I've been to! It is an enjoyable and comfortable store. The children's selection was great and both kids loaded up on books. I also found a special treat on their shelves which was a signed book by my favorite author. What a great experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This book shop is so dreamy and inviting. They have a decent rewards program and have also special ordered many books for me and even held books when I wanted them but couldn’t afford them at the moment. The folks here are kind, the books are awesome, they also host literary events that make the community a brighter, cooler place to live.

Was looking for chapter books for 7-year-old children and couldn't find any. All the books here seem to have to teach lessons. Whatever happened to just reading for fun? Why does everything have to be about gender, or race, or aging family members or death? They don't even have any classics here like Charlotte's Web or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Pretty disappointed. You make some good points below (Grimm's fairy tales are pretty - well - grim) but there are many books on various topics (history, sports, science, travel) for early readers, and I asked the (very helpful) person at the desk who showed me about five. It's rare that I walk into a bookstore ready to buy, and come out empty handed.

This independent bookstore has a friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff. It's well-curated collection allows the browser to be surprised and/or be exposed to new voices. Frequent author readings and other events make for a vibrant community of readers who help support the store via ownership.

Wonderful shop with a really thoughtfully curated selection of books! They also strongly sort local artists and makers with a number of different items from a number of folks for sale. Be sure to also check it their excellent sticker collection when you're there as well!

Best bookstore in Ithaca. I love it here.

Very nice bookstore, great taste of collection. And I love the postcard section, so cute! They have an awesome cookbook corner and an adorable children’s corner as well. Tucked in DeWitt Mall, satisfies needs for recreational books as well as serious ones

For three years now my husband has gifted me with a "book of the month" for my birthday gift. Lisa chooses the BEST books....many I might never have picked up yet always a good read. Sharing the books and the write up that comes with each book let's me gift my friends as well. AND it supports our own local book store! Our grandchildren have loved subscriptions as well.

A cozy bookstore which feels identity-inclusive. This is not some giant store with every book ever released, but their selection feels reasonably varied and not limited to new releases (though they do have those), from what I could tell. If you're coming from the Seneca Street side, walk virtually as far as you can on the ground floor to find it. Support local bookstores!

A great little bookstore that we enjoy visiting when we come to Ithaca. It doesn't have a huge stock, but what it does have is quite interesting. We always walk away with something cool. Definitely worth a

Great independent, progressive bookstore. It always feels good to support a local bookstore! Check this place out if you are in Ithaca!

Great bookstore in Ithaca. If you're a reader I'd suggest stopping. They have a great selection of indie books. Also, they have super fun items such as literary temporary tattoos {obviously I had to get some}. This book store if perfect for picking up an interesting read or even a souvenir to bring home from traveling to this fun town. Cheers!

We are so lucky to still have a local bookstore. If you read, order your books from here. Just a great place.

I can't remember the last time I did in-person business with a locally-owned bookstore in the US. I called about two items: one they had in stock, and the other they were happily willing to order per their easy-to-understand policy that was explained over the phone. As the staffer was talking price, I was on [rhymes with Babylon] comparing the numbers on the book I want thinking, "finally, I can start doing some face-to-face book shopping like I used to do back home!" I haven't gone in yet, but I don't feel like I'm going to get duped, so voici (!), my positive Yelp review for Buffalo Street Books.

Always helpful & friendly staff, will special order books quickly. Prices are slightly higher than B&N or Amazon, but the customer experience is typically better. Nice kids area. Located right next door to Green Star. Coffee + Book = Win!

Buffalo Street Books is a small local bookstore conveniently located in the DeWitt Mall in downtown Ithaca, just to the left of GreenStar Oasis. It used to be the Bookery II. It's my go-to bookstore in Ithaca because it's a small, locally owned company with a strong social justice/analysis sort of focus. Some of my more enlightened teachers have their books ordered there instead of the Cornell Store - less convenient, but they offer a student discount, and the books ordered by professors are tax-free. They sell children's books, cookbooks, maps, travel guides, local items, CDs, literary journals and periodicals, and awesome social justice and community-building posters (e.g. Ricardo Levins-Morales). They have pretty frequent readings with local and national authors, which are often really good, and also seem pretty open to hosting other kinds of events or gatherings (e.g. an Ithaca FreeSkool Norse Mythology class), which is great. Every time I go, I learn something new and find something cool. So glad to have a good local bookstore to support. Loves it.

This is a new incarnation of what used to be called "Bookery II" -- it's been reborn as a cooperative store, with local folks kicking in memberships to be "owners." A great idea, and I'm glad it seems to be working out. While they don't have quite as extensive a stock as the Bookery II used to, they still have a great selection in a wide variety of areas. We're lucky people are working to keep this valuable local resource alive in the Age of Amazon.

Buffalo Street Books comes off more cute than sophisticated, and I guess that's to be expected for the sole general-subject new-copy independent bookstore in town at a time when the book-selling trade is too dire straits for any establishment to alienate any potential readers. But this is a university town with several other institutions of higher learning and many accomplished novelists, so it's a bit unfortunate that there's not more of an academic or intellectual bookstore here like Book Culture in NYC, the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, or the Seminary Co-op in Chicago, let alone one less tied to university life, like Manhattan's McNally Jackson. Buffalo Street comes closest in look and feel to Brooklyn bookstores like BookCourt or Greenlight, but is still a bit of a step down from them when it comes to sophistication and selection. That's also to be a bit expected owing to the history of the store, which was rescued by a community bailout and is now a collectively-owned enterprise that has to be all things to all people. It also may be reflective of the relative paucity of intellectuals who work outside the colleges in town, or the marginalization of the humanities at Cornell. Whatever the cause, the store comes off a bit middlebrow, which is a shame when the only alternatives are used bookstores, a Barnes & Noble (which has exactly the same problem stock-wise), and the Cornell Store, with its mere few shelves of books surrounded by an indoor acre of branded merchandise. You're more likely to find the latest young adult novel craze here than the collected works of Robert Musil. It is a comfy, cozy place to sit and browse the books that are available, though, and, because of the lack of competition, one of the few games in town for readings and signings, many of which attract the surprising amount of local talent. It's been steadily improving since it first opened and half the shelves were empty; maybe, free from the burden of posting excessive profits, it will slowly acquire the stock to make it a truly great bookstore worthy of the intellectual heights Ithaca is capable of reaching...over time. NB: Contrary to the address listed here, its main entrance is actually on Buffalo Street, as its name would suggest, between Cayuga and Tioga Streets, and next to GreenStar Oasis.

Support local bookstores! The owners are great and will order if they don't have in stock. Especially when I was a kid I used to love sitting and reading in their kid's sections. The books are thoughtfully curated. And it's cooperatively owned - people can buy ownership shares and it's very much a community institution.

Love indie books stores! This one is no exception. Cute little warren-like layout, interesting selection. The bf couldn't decide and bought four books. He turned to me as we walked out and said, "I don't think these will all fit in my rollaboard." Who cares? They're books and we love 'em! Must see, must buy!

Had a stack of books in my arms ready to purchase when I overhead the cashier helping a young man (teenager). He asked if they had a copy of 'The Art of War' and the cashier looked at him and said that he might have trouble understanding it. WTF! The man sounded a little defeated but asked her again for a copy and she resisted, saying that the Eastern religion concepts might be difficult for him to grasp. Congratulations, it must be Opposite Day because you are doing the opposite of what a bookstore cashier should be doing (encouraging people to read, selling books, anyone?). I was disgusted at this point and just left the books on the counter as I walked out. I LOVE supporting local businesses but this experience reminded me why I buy all my books on Amazon.

I want to say 3 stars, but I like this place better than some of the bookstores that I have given three.... Bufffalo Street Books does not seem to be strongest in any one book category. Instead it's just a good overall bookstore. It's L- shaped , and maybe small medium rather than small sized. The are raedings on fairly regular basis. They have a small selection of cd's inclduing a set of Bill Evans/ Eddie Gomez duets that I will eventually get. ...

Have tried my best to give this place my business, but on several occasions their sales staff have proved either incompetent or uninterested in selling books. Smallest scale example I've ever seen of a business that should have been left to fail rather than receive a bail out.

You have to love a book store that is still locally owned and serves the community. The selection is much broader than you would expect and the atmosphere is welcoming. Check it out.