You know how we teach children not to take candy from strangers or go with them to find a lost puppy? I evidently need a refresher course as I found myself going to the oddest place for the promise of bargain books Saturday morning. One Dollar Book Swap is located in the back of a building in an industrial neighborhood in Dayton.

The maps app on my phone was directing me to turn at a place that clearly isn’t a bookstore and I was convinced she was lost. It was a little confusing and somewhat troubling at first but it worked out great!

Luckily, there’s a sign on the building that directs you down a gravel driveway to the back where there’s a loading dock entrance to what can only be described as used book paradise.

This is a no frills kind of place with a selection of over 200,000 books and no price tags because everything is just one dollar. They also have a large selection of dvds and it’s all neatly organized by category.

It would be especially nice if you have kids, including older ones who like chapter books. I enjoyed searching for vintage Little Golden books and found a number of treasures throughout the store. In fact, these aren’t junk books. I found some best sellers as well as some really obscure stuff. My best treasure though was the Forks Over Knives Cookbook that retails for like $30. It’s in great shape and, yep, was just a dollar.

I’m glad I went. Next trip I may take a few things to trade in for store credit. It seems like a good way to unload a few unwanted items for new materials.

Want to go? They’re located at 1723 Webster Street in Dayton. Find them on Facebook for hours and updates!