Prairie Archives

A booklover’s paradise. The smell of books is enticing to many of us. The Prairie Archives is unique and wonderful. Overflowing, never enough shelf space, and areas with lighting problems. Still room after room of books for any taste and any price range. It is always a stop when I shop downtown.

A wonderful store for any book lover. Very well organized across a large range of topics from history to literature to art etc etc etc.

This place is pretty holy if you’re a book lover. Bargain prices on paperbacks and hardcovers on every topic from fiction to sheet music. They also carry a wide variety of historical political and advertising buttons, paintings and prints of archival quality, and other charming tidbits.
If you find yourself in Springfield, I’d say it’s the only place you must, must, must visit.

Very awesome. Solid collections in every possible genre. Huge collections of history, politics, literature. Excellent children’s book collection. New, old, all ages. Decent science and nature. Comparatively poor in engineering/​math/​technology. (But still adequate). Large and detailed cooking, media, pop culture. Very substantial collectors/​signed/​antique. (Eg, many US presidents, stuff from the 1600’s, etc).
Clean bathrooms, very knowledgable staff.

a really friendly place to visit. It has a lot of books and particularly collectable and historic books. The window display is always interesting and changed often. I always see an interesting book displayed. The y have a good sized bargain section also. It is a large older building and feels like a used bookstore from literature would feel. It is just south of the old state capitol in the square. A lot of summer weekend events take place right in front of the store. It is surrounded by good places to eat.

No one would ever accuse this place of being frilly. I absolutely love how legit and genuine this place is. I feel like this is how a lot of people would love to live, but don’t for fear of it getting too out of hand or because it’s borderline messy. Organized chaos at its finest, I tell you. The boxes of books sitting around, the maps for sale against the wall, the grand old jugs sitting around… this place screams personality and vintage mystique.
There really is something for everyone in here. I myself am not a big history buff so when I walked in and saw shelves and shelves of books separated by war period, I was a bit uneasy. However, I was pleased to find shelves of fiction (as an academic I feel like I shouldn’t admit this, but I am always drawn to the fiction racks), home décor shelves, even a parenting section tucked away in the back. The religion room tickled my fancy too, and I spent more time than I care to admit holed away reading quotes from the Dalai Llama. I am in love.
Can’t wait to have my dad come visit so he can check this place out with me… which isn’t something I say often, as social interactions with dad always prove to be awkward. However, this place is just his style. I’ll be making lots of ventures back here.

I love Prairie Archives! The sheer amount of stuff in here is incredible. It’s a great place to go if you have a few hours to burn and want to just get lost in cool old books. The only complaint I might have would be that it is sometimes hard to tell what’s for sale and what isn’t. But wow! Amazing place.

I just received a book I bought from them via
, which came in a padded envelope. The book itself was wrapped in newspaper, as is the usual tactic with books from used bookstores, in my experience. However, no bookseller has ever taken the time to wrap it in a really beautiful photograph (a Louis Vuitton ad)! Hilarious, and delightful. Some very cool person wrapped my book. I hope I end up in Springfield someday, and can visit the place in person.

I love this place.
I agree with the people who called this place is in fact a «maze of awesomeness.» it is door to door and wall to wall stuffed with books. it is like something about of a movie about a monster that stacks books to lure people in order to get eaten.
It also has great books for a dollar outside that you just pay for by throwing money into the mail slot. All honor code.

I could go on forever about the many ways this store is amazing (selection, pricing, Rob!!!), however, two will suffice.
«Bitchin’ Camaro.»
That is all. Shop here now.

You’re lured inside by the carts of bargain books in the outer foyer. Then, the real fun begins. You’re about to enter a genuine book store. A treasure trove of just about anything you can imagine. New and old books. Ancient periodicals. Comic books you haven’t seen since your mom sold them at a garage sale back in the ‘70s. An indolent black dog resting on the floor. Boxes piled up to the ceilings. Just about everything organized by category. An owner who truly knows his stuff. Bibliophile heaven!

As others have said, this place is in fact a maze of awesomeness. Its the type of place you mean to run into for a minute or two then come out of hours later like you have been in a time warp. There are literally shelves and piles and stacks and rows and heaps of books everywhere you look. Half the fun is thinking youll bend down and dig through some pile to find a hidden treasure.
A great place to laze away and afternoon.

I absolutely love this place! Its like a literary maze of awesomeness.
Theres rooms and rooms stuffed to the gills with books and stuff and have benches and wingbacked chairs scattered throughout that have piles of books stacked on top of them. its truely an enjoyable experience.
They have a great selection of all different kinds of books, music and comic books. I was thrilled to see they had the Jungle Book soundtrack on vinyl. Too bad I was on my way to STL and I dont have a record player. In addition to vinyl, they also have a great selection of cd’s and cassettes.
This is definitely going to be a place I stop at every time im in Springfield.
Only downside to this place is its located in the Old Capitol building plaza so unless you get street side parking, you have to park in the public parking lot.
It is wheelchair accessible, however be mindful that this place is reminescent of a booklovers library in a movie so although there is wheelchair access theres very narrow areas to get through due to the stacks and stacks of books

As good as used book stores get! Wonderful collections! Move aside, Half Price Books, Springfield doesn’t need you!
Parking can be tricky though. Don’t get a ticket!

Wow. Wow. Wow.
I had to leave after 5 minutes because I knew if I didn’t I’d be there 5 hours.
I would make a special trip to Springy-​ding-​ding just to hit this bookstore. Not kidding.

Springfield doesn’t have a lot; thank God it has Prairie Archives. Situated in the square that surrounds the old state capitol, this store is everything a used-​book store should be: a maze of hidden treasures, pleasant surprises, and finds that make you say, «OMFG!» I have found beautiful Andrew Wyeth monographs, a book on conversational French from 1930 that tells you how to order custom-​made couture, and a Frank Zappa record.
Being in the LOL (Land of Lincoln, not Laugh Out Loud), this store has a great history collection, especially of the hard-​to-​find variety. They also have some very interesting archival material, like old post cards, prints, and framed things. Also check out the t-​shirts with snarky quotes about Springfield from famous historical characters.
Staff is not what you’d expect from a used-​book store but exactly what you’d expect from a store in Springfield: friendly! I usually don’t find myself chatting with book store staff (see my other reviews) but i LOVE chatting with the owner, who is a brain trust of local history and current events.
Because of the internet, prices are pretty on par with used-​book stores in the city, so don’t visit expecting a bunch of yokels who don’t know what they’ve got. In spite of this, it gets five stars from me as a place near and dear to my heart. I come every time I visit my motherland. If you find yourself stuck in this unfortunate town, put a silver lining on your cloud by visiting.

I loooove this bookstore. So many books, and so cheap (based on the «light» books I read). You’ve got to dig around for treasures, but that’s part of the fun. One of the few things I miss about Springfield. I haven’t been there in 3 years, but I still remember it.