COAS Books

This is a great place to lose yourself for an indefinite period of time. I stopped in on my way through Las Cruces, anticipating spending a few minutes browsing. Then I went in and realized as I wandered that the inside seems to go on forever. Twisting and turning through a maze of rooms that all seem to lead to another, I kept finding something new to look at. If you like to read actual books and not electronic versions, this is a must see to appreciate kind of place. The staff is extremely helpful in navigating to a certain author if you ask. Great bookstore.

In the vibrant heart of downtown Las Cruces, COAS Books welcomes book enthusiasts of all ages. This remarkable bookstore has expanded significantly since its humble beginnings over 30 years ago. Walking through its multiple rooms filled with shelves of books is reminiscent of an ancient visitor stepping into the hallowed halls of the great library of Alexandria. Upon entering COAS Books, visitors are immediately embraced by a warm and inviting ambiance. The store is thoughtfully organized, with bookshelves neatly lining the walls and comfortable chairs strategically placed throughout. Its impressive collection encompasses popular fiction, obscure non-fiction, and everything in between. The knowledgeable staff is always eager to assist patrons in finding the perfect book or recommending new and exciting reads. COAS Books is a sanctuary for book lovers, offering something for every taste and interest. Whether you seek a compelling novel, an insightful memoir, or a rare and forgotten gem, you're sure to find it within these walls. It's the ideal destination to lose yourself in the written word, whether you're looking for a new literary obsession or simply seeking a cozy spot to relax and browse.

My wife, son and I, all love to just come and look and smell all the books! It has a huge selection of different and hard to find used books. It's like stepping in to a different world, made of knowledge.

We always find a little piece of treasure when we shop here. It's easy to navigate each section is clearly marked, and it's a very large selection to choose from. The prices are amazing and the best part is if your library gets too full they take trade ins for store credit.

What a great bookstore right in the heart of Las Cruces! If you’re a bookworm, this is the place to be. There’s basically a genre with almost 100 books to go, with a couple copies at different prices. There’s about 5 different sections of the store, divided really nicely and all are wheelchair accessible. If you’re in the area, would highly recommend!

Passing through Las Cruces and we have to hit our favorite used bookstore. The staff here are so incredibly knowledgeable. So many excellent books. It's not set up like a library or even a larger bookstore so don't be afraid to ask for help. PS There is a great (hidden, but worth the search) vegan coffee shop within walking distance (and two excellent-but-small museums too) within walking distance. I took my three little kids in with me to grab a coffee and the staff suggested steamers for them with their house made flavor syrups. So good! Bonus: the staff were all friendly and kind-- an excellent break from the soul-crushingly lame big coffee chains.

This is a very well organized/maintained used and new book store. I wish I would have taken some photos, but I was too busy looking through the book shelves. The staff is very friendly and will lead you right to the section you're looking for if you ask. I've had some great picks the couple times I've visited over the years (I'd go more, but I live about 20-24 hours away).

A great downtown bookstore with a large selection, good pricing and friendly staff. Just the kind of place a community needs to have a thriving downtown. Always active and bustling, it flys it the face of the "nobody reads anymore" idea so prevalent in society.

Books! Oh the sweet smell of books... I have always been partial to local bookstores like this one. It reminds me of a smaller New Mexico flavored Powell's of Portland, OR. I could spend hours in a place like this, and I have. Usually find things I didn't even know I needed. I try 9 out of 10 times to buy used books from a local source. Unfortunately, I was not able to find the list of books I was looking for but I still had a great time looking around. Also, the staff and specifically the person that helped me was awesome and extremely helpful. I shall return...

This is a great place to lose yourself for an indefinite period of time. I stopped in on my way through Las Cruces, anticipating spending a few minutes browsing. Then I went in and realized as I wandered that the inside seems to go on forever. Twisting and turning through a maze of rooms that all seem to lead to another, I kept finding something new to look at. If you like to read actual books and not electronic versions, this is a must see to appreciate kind of place. The staff is extremely helpful in navigating to a certain author if you ask. Great bookstore.

These people are book thiefs. Don't go here to sell your books. I tried to and they kept it without giving me credit. The lady demanded I bring her the receipt.

This is one of my favorite bookstores used bookstores. The selection is amazing, I will not make a trip to New Mexico without stopping here.

Las Cruces is home to the largest used bookstore in New Mexico and it is, in a word, amazing. If there is a genre of book they don't have it likely doesn't exist. They also have everything from records to DVDs as well as new books. You can even donate your previously owned items for store credit. The staff is always friendly and helpful and I've yet to visit without taking something home. From time they will have special events and book signings, often from NM authors. Simply said, if you love books this place is for you.

Wonderful book store. Clean, air conditioned, comfortable, easy to navigate, lots of help and staff, easy check out, great place for kids, comprehensive engineering section, well comprehensive everything, frankly. You Just Can't Get This On The Internet!

Staff. Super friendly. Books. Huge Bookstore. Each section is well in order. Fiction & non fiction. Large Anthropology section may be largest i have seen before ever. Art section, books are older, Needs more recent acquisitions like Half spruce Books. Cleanest bathroom ever!! These guys respects well all and they deserve 5 stars even more. I supported them today and hopefully will come soon:)

Books, books and more books! Unfortunately this bookstore isn't open at the present time due to COVID-19. I highly recommend visiting when it's back in business. It' so big...you might even get lost! I'm being serious here! Lol. Don't leave the kiddos or whoever you go with behind somewhere! This is probably one of the largest bookstores in the area. I could easily spend hours in there. They mostly offer used books. You'll find some new ones. I found Coas back when I was a college student at NMSU. I'd enjoy hanging out whenever I had time. I'd sometimes study in there. Coas has something for everybody, people of all ages. The last time I went, they had a coffee shop as well. I remember the coffee tasting very good. Go to Coas, you won't regret it.

The best used bookstore in town! The customer service is always on point and the owners are awesome people!

Located in the heart of downtown Las Cruces. This used bookstore is a great place to go to because the city's library is closed during the pandemic. The sections of the store include children's, fiction, media (CDs, DVDs, records), puzzles and even a comic book section. They also accept donations & do trade in.

Very extensive used book store. Found copies of some out of print technical books... they also have dvds, cds, games, etc.

Simply amazing used book store, what a selection! I read a lot of science and technology books. They don't have a science section. They have a whole bunch of sections like microelectronics, mechanical engineering, systems science, computers Thomas Edison....ect. You get the idea, they have so many books that usual sections in other used book stores are greatly subdivided here. Just amazing everything I could find here, awfully impressive. I'm from out of town, but I'd be here all the time if I lived in Las Cruces.

Super helpful staff and a HUGE selection of books. I was able to buy the entire Harry Potter series in hard back for a steal. They even helped me pick up a few of the missing books from the other location. I could stay here for hours and browse.

Great bookstore, is very big and has huge selection of books.

This is the best bookstore I've visited in years! Large selection, easy to find what you're looking for (once you find the correct section, which is easy with their very helpful staff), clean, and nice prices. Great store!

For our last day in Las Cruces, my parents and I decided to explore the town's Main Street. Recently, I started doing this thing where I buy a paperback book in every place that I travel to as a souvenir of my trip. The book's subject matter has to be about the place that I visited. I already bought my paperback for this New Mexico trip in Old Mesilla, but that didn't stop me from visiting this behemoth of a bookstore in good ol' Main street! I had a silly feeling that this was the only book store in town as there were stacks of books that just seemed to go on for miles. Barnes and Nobles who? There are tons of used books and new books to choose from, and at first it's really overwhelming when you walk in. There are also a lot of old books, so if you're into antiques or rare books, this is probably a good place to start. I loved how they had complete sets of encyclopedias; it brought back memories of when I used to use them for school projects. (It also made me wonder if I could pull off a Joey Tribbiani and just buy the "V" volume! :P) The staff is very helpful and can work together to help you find something, thanks to their useful walkie talkies. You know a book store is super official when they got the walkie talkies involved! Awesome place to stop by if you're a bibliophile. And if you're not, you can look through their super cheap used-DVD section near the store entrance!

I'm not sure that Coas is quite as awe-inspiring as some of the other reviewers have gushed, raved, and swooned about, but I get that it's an unexpected gem in the middle of the desert. First off it's huge. They have tons of books--both used and new, including a decent antique book section. And the atmosphere is hard to beat--wood floors, nice staff, coffee shop in the back. My two main gripes are these: First, I could not for the life of me figure out their organization system. I walked around for a good hour before I figured out that Isabel Allende novels were in the classic books cheapie paperback section (not the general fiction section or the classic novels section). Second, the books were not particularly cheap. Around $5 each for paperbacks. But all in all a nice bookstore with a good selection of used books.

This is one of the best bookstores I've ever been in, probably second only to Powell's in Portland. We visit Las Cruces maybe once a year to see family, and it's one of the first stops we make. I am guaranteed to find at least one (thousand) things I'm interested in, and I usually have to restrain myself so I don't fill my suitcase for the trip back home.

So many books! Do you need information about anything ever? You can find it here! Room after room of fiction, nonfiction, comics, instructional, vinyl records, vhs, DVD, CDs! Generally it is tidy, the books are organized, and the staff is friendly.

My only experience with used bookstores is with the Half Price Books chain in central Texas. Half Price Books, for those of you who aren't familiar is a great, organized, clean and well stocked chain of used bookstores located in Texas. So, when I was scouting out Las Cruces for an apartment, I decided to visit Coas My Bookstore. The location isn't easily found by those unfamiliar with the area and I ended up passing it once and having to loop around to find the parking lot. Let me say this - I've not seen such a breadth and scope of subject matter in a used book store. Especially interesting was their sections on science and technical documentation. My only complaint was the amount of disarray at the checkout counter. I realize because they buy and sell books there is some disorganization to be expected, but I've seen the buying of lots of books done well, so I know it can be done.

COAS actually has two locations; one on the Downtown Mall and one over on Solano between Missouri and Lohman/Amador (otherwise known by me as Lomador). Each has its own unique collection. Collectively, COAS has a great, if eccentric, collection of used books. For example: they have a HUGE collection of paperback classics, of romance novels, westerns, sci-fi, etc.There are lots of used movies on VHS and DVD. Their recent fiction section is super. Other sections are completely dependent on who lives in town and what they like to read. There are not that many historians in town, and we tend to hang on to our books, so the history section is not great. Best thing about COAS: you can sell your used books to them for credit and buy more books, shelling out a minimum of cash. It's a great place to spend an afternoon.

During college this was my bookstore. I'd by the odd book from Hastings, Walden, or the NMSU bookstore but mostly I came here. It was amazing, so cheap, perfect for a student with very little money. Back then there were ads for Coas that said, "Largest Fantasy RPG Selection in Southern New Mexico." Being a nerd, geek, dweeb, what have you, I was curious and went. They didn't disappoint with tons of source books, models, dice, paints, what ever you needed to nerd out on a saturday night except chips, soda, and a big table. An oasis and I made friends because of this place. Sure I also read a number of books that I wouldn't have otherwise. That was nearly a decade ago and I know times change, I know pen and paper games are going out of favor for computer ones so I'm not too upset that the RPG section is gone, it hits me in my nostalgia bone but I understand. It's small things that see odd. The selection, while quite impressive, it no longer matches my preference in books. That's not their fault it's me and not their fault. Also the benches, while nice, weren't very comfortable. I understand not wanting people to linger all day without buying something but still choosing a random, unknown book might need a few chapters of reading. Tiny tiny gripe but one I've gotten used to else where. Still it's a great place, worth seeing, and plenty of great books. Also there are all these pokey little rooms scattered around I wouldn't be surprised if there was a door to L Space hidden in the back sections. They didn't have a coffeeshop which could be a plus or minus but I had been hoping to have a cup and read the books I bought but no luck... oh well I got spoiled elsewhere.

Easily the best bookstore (new, used, whatever) I've ever been or will ever go to (hell, I'd consider a visit to Las Cruces to go to Coas-no joke! Their sheer selection, customer service, trade program, organizational system are all "the tops." When I lived in Las Cruces, I could easily go to Coas once a month, spend at least an hour there (not looking real close, just browsing) and come out with 5-6 books each time (a lot of them originals from 30-60's philosophy, psychology, metaphysical-great finds!) and spend about $20. I've never been to the mall location, as it wasn't around when I lived there-I hope to get back to Las Cruces one day, though, and I will be back, Coas! Oh, Tiffany mentioned Powell's in Portland. Powells may be bigger than Coas, but Powell's is much, MUCH more corporate than Coas-a book you could find for $3 at Coas would cost $15 at Powell's-Powells feels not much different to me than a Barnes and Noble-Coas feels like a used book store.

Amazing. If you love books give yourself plenty of time to explore. I wish I had a couple hours when I visited for the first time yesterday. I'll be back.

COAS Books is the classic college town bookstore that is, in this age of Amazon.com, sadly starting to fade away into history. A few college towns and large cities still have bookstores of this type and caliber however, and Las Cruces is certainly very fortunate to have COAS. I found some great books here on the region, including Ken Baxter Ragsdale's magisterial "Quicksilver: Terlingua and the Chisos Mining Company" which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the history of Terlingua or the Big Bend in general. Of course, that's a little ways from Lac Cruces, but still: good stuff. They also have the expected array of literature, textbooks, topo maps, and other hard-to-finds, exotica, and et cetera. Like all the great indie bookstores of the world, half the fun is just digging through things to see what you may find. The orgainzation of titles at COAS is like the British Library: that is, it is a system of its own odd design and it's not going to change or conform to anything more logical. If you cannot find a certain author in "fiction", for example, suspect that she's been elevated by the powers that be at COAS to the level of "literature" and resides now with the greats on their shelves. Another tip for the COAS system: "history" means in general cowboys and Indians old-skool history . . . if you're seeking a history of, say, aerospace industry in the region that could well be under science . . . or aviation . . . or military. Or not. Also, the online website for the store differs in its inventory from the physical locations and does not provide a live inventory for these locations at all. And yes: they do have the grandest and dandiest selection of role-playing games (like D&D, yo) in the south of New Mexico. That's saying more than you might imagine. Magic: The Gathering is still big ups down there. All in all, COAS is a treat and treasure for Las Cruces and I would say the one single must-do stop if you're in town even a single day. Be prepared to deal with th dusty, rambling, style of used bookstore that lovers of used bookstores adore though and not the tack-sharp inventory of Amazon while here.

Coas is simply, the place to go book shopping in Las Cruces. It's at the Downtown Mall. This could either be a good thing or a not-so-good thing. Good: near Day's Hamburgers and a few other shops. Not-so-good: Not much else to do around there. I discovered this spot as a student trying to find inexpensive, entertaining things to do. They have a great science fiction selection, and awesome non-fiction. I remember there being a lot of crafts books, vintage ones especially. And the prices were not bad. And they have games and toys. I mean, RPG equipment.

As well run, well organized, and well priced as any used bookstore I've ever been to in any city. Believe it or not, they are not the ONLY used bookstore in Cruces, but few even know that because they are certainly the BEST one. They started out in one small location in the old downtown strip mall where no one goes (except for Farmer's Market on Saturdays and to go to Coas). But now they have satellite stores all over town with specializations (cook books in one, sci-fi/fantasy concentration in another). While all locations have a variety of books, make sure you know what the satellite stores concentrate in because there you will find the best selection for that topic. You can turn books in for them for trade. The trade is a good value. I LOVE their selection of antique and collectible books. I've gotten some real finds there and they are reasonably priced.

I wish I could live in this store. I have never seen such a huge selection! They have a whole SHELF full of pulp fiction books! Great prices, great service!

Just fell in love with this place today while hanging out at the Farmer's Market at the Downtown Mall. Absolutely love the selection and the prices, too. The cafe in the back of the store seems to be a big hit as it was pretty crowded at 1:00 in the afternoon. I'll have to try it next time. My favorite finds: -Love stories in tagalog? Wow! Never thought I would find that in LC! -Shelves and shelves of sheet music for my piano, clarinet, and sax....yes, I am a band nerd from way back. I plan on teaching my son a few things so Coas is a great resource. -The selection for kids was pretty amazing too! Journals, flash cards, books in a few languages for kids... I was also impressed that they have so many used road maps. I figure some may be out of date but i figure the general geography should still be accurate. Loved it!

Ok it is bursting with a plethora of interesting books - not the prettiest place but very comfortable and smells decent - could use more style like the tattered cover - but as they are so friendly and helpful (see Chance or Chace?) it more than makes up for it! Coas was started by an archeologist who sold to archeologists and expanded from there. The name is a take off from an ancient people apparently. They have a great internet ordering department. I like their cook book section. The financial section isn't too bad either. Now I need to make sure I don't buy more than I can read in a life time. Oh but for immortality to read books.

Top notch second-hand bookstore with a staff that is knowledgeable and friendly and a great sprawling collection with enough surprises to keep a browser busy for hours.

A once fine establishment gone to seed under current owner Mike, a scummy weasel who low-balls you on credit and overcharges on books not in good condition. Las Cruces being the anus of the state, he pretty much has the town's used-book market to himself, but you're far better served driving up to Albuquerque and Santa Fe and visiting stores with a far wider and more sophisticated selection like Bookworks, Page 1, Op-Cit and Collected Works. Don't get trapped in the grimy paws of this hustler.

Could not believe that most of the books I saw had a tag priced at new! My purpose was to browse "used" books for a great price. I got home and priced the books on Amazon and those books were about 20 dollars cheaper in new condition. How can we support local when they are price gouging the customer? Sorry but my budget comes first..I'll order from Amazon. Your loss Coas : /

If you love books, this place is heavenly. It's something you would expect to find in big cities like Seattle or Austin. You could spend hours here just browsing the shelves. The in-store trade-credit program is genius and makes these affordable books even more affordable. Coas is truly a gem! It's a bookstore for everyone!

I was curious about this bookstore, as the concept is similar to a bookstore chain in Arizona. I was surprised at how big this bookstore is. There is a huge selection of books. I highly recommend it to any book lover!

Coas is one of my favorite places to spend time (and money)! The staff is friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. I always seem to find something awesome for a great price. I could spend hours and hours searching the stacks. My only complaint (which resulted in less than five stars) is that there is no store wide inventory which would make searching for specific titles infinitely easier. Their credit policy is phenomenal and Coas is a must visit for any book lover out there.

Coas Bookstore has 2 locations. The one on main street is the main branch. The bookstore is large and musty, staffed by student/hippies that I assume go to NMSU. The are usually knowledgeable about their inventory and where to find the books, and courteous also. The parking lot is ludicrously small for a place as popular as COAs, but there is ample shopping on the other side if you don't mind walking a hundred yards or so. I usually don't "have an agenda" when I go to COAs. Sometimes I just feel like browsing to see if anything grabs my attention. I've found fairly rare old books, usually historical in nature, for low prices. I've probably bought 50 books or so from COAs since I've lived in Las Cruces. My only beef with COAs is the value obtained when trying to sell them books. I understand they have wages to pay, but getting 25 cents for a book that I bought from them 3 months before (for a dollar) just doesn't sit well with me. Oh well, the prices for their books are low enough that I just eat the cost, and gladly. Instead of selling the books back to COAs for a buck or two (for about 5-10 books) But usually I just donate them to the Las Cruces Public Library. Makes me feel like I'm doing something positive for the community in a small way. I can heartily recommend COAs as a superior option to the other bookstores in town, however they will likely not have the most recent bestsellers if that is what you are looking for.

My wife and I love Coas!!! It is the kind of place we can spend an afternoon, just looking through their extensive selection of books and printed material. Coas has a relaxed environment, with friendly staff, and enough books to make your head spin. A great time to go is during the farmers market on Saturday morning. You can walk around the market for a while and then duck into Coas and lose yourself in their epic selection of books.

The ultimate used bookstore. All other used bookstores wish they were this awesome. Incredible selection, very helpful and friendly staff who will give you as much space as you want, and a super economic model for bringing in used books. Absolutely perfect

I absolutely adore Coas. So much so in fact that my friends have long grown tired of listening to me go on and on, listing it's qualities and wonderfulness. It must be said however that Coas is the largest used bookstore I have ever been in - and no don't start with me Portlanders, I haven't been to Powell's yet, so I don't want to hear it. Anyway, Powell's notwithstanding, Coas is huge and is filled with both hard to find and rare prints on books. This is incredible as usually used bookstores sort their stock pretty religiously to keep any of the books with antiquarian value. Coas on the other hand, doesn't seem to. I have found real gems here. Like a first edition copy of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath for 75 cents. Or a flawed edition of the Shakespearian Sonnets, with three quarters of the pages inverted for 10 cents. Maybe you aren't that interested in it, but trust me I was thrilled. Coas was always around when I needed something to read, and especially wonderful when I was getting ready for the next school year at college. It should be mentioned that I was in a classic's program, so it was pretty easy to find everything I needed there. The staff was always friendly and helpful when it came to finding most books. And you cannot beat the trade-in credit price. They also have a nice selection of comics, dice games, board games and text books that I recommend checking out.

Wow, this is pretty much a perfect bookstore. Good selection of $1 books outside. Huge but very well organized inside - organized by category, almost like a library (minus the dewey decimal system). Mix of new and used books, though the majority were used. Used books were reasonbly priced - most I looked at were $3-$5. I had to leave to avoid buying a second armful.

Great customer service. Super nice owner! I bought a book on Amazon and never got it. Amazon said it was delivered, but it didn't end up on my doorstep. (I live in a condo complex) The owner researched the problem immediately and wanted me to be happy. She went out of her way to replace it, even though it wasn't her fault. Thank you COAS Books!

If you like books, and want to spend an hour (or more!) browsing through a great, gigantic, used book store, this is the place for you. The store has every category of books, for all levels of readers and interests. Still a little weak on the comics, but music, classics, textbooks, you name it, most everything else is somewhere here. The prices are very good, and you can get store credit for your trade ins. This is my favorite bookstore in the area by far.

One of the things I miss most about Las Cruces is this awesome book store. It's by far the best book store I've ever visited, and have never been to one that equals it!

Look, I like COAS, in fact I have a pretty hefty credit balance with them, and I have spent many a pleasant hour there. But... trying to find a specific book there is an impossible task. There is no sensible arrangement of the books. Where books are shelved seems to depend on whoever shelved it's idea of the books category. Plus there is no biography section? I'm not asking for the Dewey decimal system, just some consistency.

A little overwhelming to walk into at first, in a good way. HUGE selection of books and movies. Many a day have I wandered the aisles of COAS, either for school or leisure. There are books for everything here, for cheaper than I've ever seen. Very friendly service. One of my favorites.

My favorite bookstore anywhere.. I particularly like the large collection of foreign language books and technical books. A really outstanding, well organized, and reasonably priced store..

I absolute love used book stores. I was really sad when both of the ones in Sierra Vista closed down. So when I moved back to Las Cruces, it was great to hit up Coas. These places are like little treasure troves... whether you are looking for an old book, a favorite you once misplaced, or hoping to dig up something new, Coas is just great. Can't really say much more than that in this case, just really love this place. Oh and incidentally, they have another location on Solano street if you don't want to head downtown.

Wow, a bookstore like 'Bookman's' here in New Mexico. When the internet dies, this place will become a temple of knowledge. Loaded and busting at the seams, so don't miss it if you're in Southern New Mexico.