Meet the Man Who Sells Used Books on the Street Outside of Columbia University

By Alexia Massoud

The buzz on Broadway never stops; everyone is walking — or likely rushing — somewhere, be it class, work, or the subway at 116th Street. But for a few minutes on a busy day, Paul Olson’s used-book table serves as an escape for readers to stop and browse — and, if they’re lucky, walk away with a $4 copy of a great read in good condition.

In between Columbia Climate School and University Hardware & Housewares, between 113th and 114th Streets, Olson sets up shop on clear-sky days when school is in session. He displays over 20 cardboard boxes filled with books left behind or donated by people, as well as some vinyl records. Many are brand new, still in original packaging.

“There’s nothing I’d rather do than this,” Olson said. “I can have real conversations about everything under the sun through selling books.”

That wasn’t the original plan, though.

Olson, 55, moved to New York 30 years ago after dropping out of college in Utah. In the East Village, he used to scavenge for things like trinkets, candleholders, magazines, VHS tapes, books, Rubik’s cubes, toys, and used clothes to ultimately sell and “find a new home for them.” He stayed away from electronic equipment, though, to avoid being arrested for peddling without a license — which is a misdemeanor.

“But books, you could sell, as long as they’re on a table,” Olson said. “You don’t get arrested for selling books because the First Amendment allows you to distribute in a printed manner.”

A vendor license is not required to sell newspapers, periodicals, books, pamphlets, or other written material, or artwork such as paintings, photographs, prints, and sculptures, according to the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Different rules apply to selling food and selling from a garage or private property.

And that’s what Olson started doing, selling books — aside from his other job, which is catering.

For more than five years, Olson has lugged boxes full of books he’s gathered over the years from donations and websites like AbeBooks or Alibris to the Upper West Side.

Unloading them from the trunk of his car, he sets up on Broadway weekdays from mid-morning to nighttime — if there is no rain — and at the Morningside Farmers Market on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“I love the farmers market because it’s the bringing together of Columbia, Morningside Heights, and Spanish Harlem,” he said. “With all that cultural mélange, I sell a lot of stuff and talk to a lot of people, so I can engage with the communities.”

Chris Lee, a Columbia alumna who was in the area, stopped by Olson’s table one recent morning and spent over $40 on books to complete a reading list she has compiled for herself. She said she likes buying used volumes because the books then get a new reader instead of gathering dust on a shelf.

“I like to, for a lack of a better word, abuse the book, with annotations and highlighting,” Lee said. “I like it when it’s used because it’s read through, it wants to be annotated, and I don’t have to treat it so nicely.”

Olson laughed and agreed, adding that he feels he’s giving the books “new life” as he saves them from the rats and landfills.

Olson’s sales for specific books have gone up because social media has popularized the challenging reads, like Cervantes’ “Don Quixote” and Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo,” he said. “People really like to flex their reads on social media to show off their bookstack and all the books they read at the end of the year.”

Profits can be as high as $200-$300 per hour at the farmers market, where the foot traffic is “incredible.” Otherwise, on Broadway, Olson sells about two or three boxes of books in a day. But all of that money gets reinvested into the business because he’s a “book hoarder” and wants his customers to come back, he said.

“There are so many good books we have not read, and when we look at this table, we realize it,” he said. “And it’s really humbling.”

Hissam Effendi, a mechanical engineering student at Columbia, said he stopped at the book table because he hadn’t read in a while and could use a book. He purchased the Hubert J. Selby novel, “Requiem for a Dream,” for $12 after Olson gave him a 10-minute spiel about the story. The novel was adapted for a film of the same name in 2000.

“I want to get into the habit of reading books before I watch the films that inspire them,” Effendi said. “I’m big into films, and I want to be able to form my own opinion of them.”

From Hannah Arendt to René Girard and Fyodor Dostoevsky, Olson has a book for every crowd: students, professors, readers, and even those who are just starting on their book journeys. What sets him apart are personalized recommendations, because he’s gone through many of the volumes himself, he said.

An avid reader since childhood, having earned second place in a reading competition in the fourth grade with 137 books, Olson figured his love for reading could be a service to others.

“I like helping train people to not keep looking at their phones, and instead, pick up their books,” Olson said.

With our declining attention spans of 47 seconds on any screen, according to Gloria Mark, author of “Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity,” that may just be true.

You can find Olson on Instagram @umbrellahouse_books.

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