Little known fact: New York, the publishing capital of the world, is actually a collection of islands overlaying a slow-moving, subterranean tide of used books.

The relentless, inexorable flow of review copies, uncorrected proofs, used paperbacks and discarded textbooks swells and accumulates by the hour.

Is it any wonder, then, that the city's used bookstores-the only agents gutsy enough to curate this terrifying onslaught-are thriving?

"There's a used bookstore renaissance going on in New York City right now," says Benjamin Friedman, co-owner of Topos Bookstore Cafe, in Ridgewood, Queens, one of several to open in recent years.

There are, by my count, more than 30 such shops in the city; more than 50 if you count the rare-book dealers.

They feed on the city's discards. In New York, even the fiercest bibliophiles have limited shelf space. If you don't weed your library on occasion, you'll be buried alive. And given the current craze for material minimalism, book dealers say, folks are pruning their shelves more aggressively than ever.

As a result, it doesn't cost much to stock a secondhand book store in New York. Shop owners say they will typically spend $1 to $3 to acquire a used book they can resell for $10, compared with $6 for a new book with a $10 list price.

"It's very tedious, unpleasant work," says Chris Doeblin, who sells a mix of new and used books at the 112th Street location of Book Culture, his Upper West Side mini-chain. "The labor you have to do for each one is crazy."

The Strand, meanwhile, hosts a booming business selling and renting books "by the foot" to decorators, set designers and homeowners. Purchase rates range from $500 a foot for antique leather-bounds to $15 a foot for paperbacks.

Oversize art books, at $250 a foot, are the most popular option, says department manager Sky Friedlander. Some buy based on color, bringing in swatches to match. Popular shades include white and sea-foam green.

The newest shops, meanwhile, say they're surprised by their success. When Topos opened in 2015, says Mr. Friedman, he thought the cafe would subsidize the bookstore.

"To our surprise, it's been the other way around," he says. "The books are doing really well."

To read the complete article, see:
New York's Used Book Stores Are Having a Moment (www.wsj.com/articles/new-yorks-used-book-stores-are-having-a-moment-1468576802)