Choose the best day to visit Strand. Since the $1 bookshelves are located outside, it is important to choose a day that the weather is bearable. Pick a day of the week to go when the weather forecast is sunny. Also, it is better to go on weekdays when it is less crowded so you can take more time browsing and selecting your next used book purchase.
Travel to Strand by car, bus or subway. Strand is conveniently located on Broadway between 12th Street and 13th Street in Manhattan. If you are taking the subway, the closest station is 14th Street Union Square. Be advised the majority of the $1 racks are around the corner on 12th Street. Be sure to look up directions before leaving the house.
Go $1 book shopping with an open mind about what kind of book to buy. It is almost impossible to go to the $1 shelves and find a specific author or title. The books are not organized in any way, so looking through all of the titles can be time-consuming. It is best to go to Strand without a purchasing preference and buy something that suddenly sparks interest.
Begin at the "children's" section located to the left of the entrance on Broadway. Scan the first shelf for titles that sound interesting or eye-grabbing covers. Choose one or two books to pull from the shelf and put them in a tote bag or stack on top of the next rack. Continue gathering one or two books from each shelf, or whatever strikes your fancy.
Proceed to the "art" section directly to the right of the main entrance. Pull one book and one art magazine from each shelf and add to your shopping bag. When shopping for art books look for genres and artists that are familiar as well as unfamiliar. Some of the most interesting finds come from unexpected places. The art section is about three to four carts long and ends directly at the corner of the block.
Turn left around the corner onto 12th Street and walk halfway down the block to the end of the racks. Rather than proceed around the corner to browse the rest of the books, start at the back and move your way to the front. Fewer people make it all the way to the back stacks while shopping. Therefore starting at the back provides a greater opportunity of finding intriguing titles. Continue to take one to two books from each rack.
Find a place to look through all of your books once more before proceeding to checkout. Go through your book bag and weed out any unwanted titles.
Proceed to checkout and purchase the books. For $1 per book you will be astounded at the information and literature available.