The facade is design in the Streamline Modern style. The building extends for one hundred and fifty feet back from Long Beach Blvd. We carry books on almost any subject and we also carry some antiquarain books though we don't considered our selves antiquarain bookdealers. We purchase most of our books from walk-in sellers, but we will also travel to a person's home to buy an entire library.

Mr. Bertrand Smith 1874-1965, the founder of Acres of Books, was an established book dealer in Cincinnati, Ohio, when he came out west to start a new bookshop at 140 Pacific Ave. in Long Beach in 1934. We moved to our current location at 240 Long Beach Blvd. in 1960.

Mr. Smith went to England over the years on regular book buying trips. He became a familiar face in the many bookshops of London's Charing Cross Road and came home with wonderful treasures for the book lovers of Southern California.

Mr. Smith in 1959 gave to the people of Long Beach a collection of rare books, some dating back to the 15th century. Included in the collection is a two volume facsimile of the Gutenberg Bible all of which is housed as part of the Loraine and Earl Burns Miller Special Collections Room at the main branch of the Long Beach Public Library.

In 1990 Acres of Books was designated a cultural heritage landmark by the City of Long Beach.

We are now in our third generation of family ownership and have grown to over 1 million books in stock, making us the largest used bookshop in California and a desination for book lovers from around the World.