Bookstores in Abidjan
If you judge a town by its bookshops, Abidjan, Abidjan gives you 121 to judge by. That's 121 bookshops mapped around Abidjan, each with its own shelves and specialties. The used sections are where the real bargains hide. Staff picks shelves are the fastest way to read a shop's personality.
This guide covers every bookstore we could verify in and around Abidjan (within about 40 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Librairie de France and Librairie de France, plus Librairie esotherique Phoenix. If a bookshop's missing from Abidjan's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet.
The Abidjan bookstore lineup
121 mapped within about 40 km — showing 60:
Librairie de France
Bookstore
Librairie de France — Bookstore, found on Avenue Chardy in Plateau.
Avenue Chardy, Plateau
Librairie de France
Bookstore
Librairie de France — Bookstore, found on Rue O13 in Yopougon.
Rue O13, Yopougon
Librairie esotherique Phoenix
Bookstore
Librairie esotherique Phoenix is Bookstore. Librairie esotherique Phoenix also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as 08:00-18:00.
Hours: 08:00-18:00
Librairie Carrefour Siloe
Bookstore
Librairie Carrefour Siloe is Bookstore.
Grande Librairie
Bookstore
Grande Librairie is Bookstore.
Librairie des Soeurs Paulines
Bookstore
Librairie des Soeurs Paulines is Bookstore.
librairie du plateau
Bookstore
librairie du plateau is Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie ésotérique Crystal des anges
Bookstore
Librairie ésotérique Crystal des anges — Bookstore.
Librairie Cam
Bookstore
Librairie Cam — Bookstore.
Librairie Emaïus
Bookstore
Librairie Emaïus — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Boutique La Gloire
Bookstore
Boutique La Gloire is Bookstore.
Librairie papeterie
Bookstore
Librairie papeterie is Bookstore.
Librairie catholique
Bookstore
Librairie catholique is Bookstore.
Librairie papeterie
Bookstore
Librairie papeterie is Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie Nassua groupe
Bookstore
Librairie Nassua groupe is Bookstore.
Imprimerie
Bookstore
Imprimerie is Bookstore.
Imprimerie
Bookstore
Imprimerie is Bookstore.
Papeterie Royal
Bookstore
Papeterie Royal is Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie papeterie
Bookstore
Librairie papeterie is Bookstore.
Librairie par terre
Bookstore
Librairie par terre is Bookstore.
Shop
Bookstore
Shop — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie CAM
Bookstore
Librairie CAM is Bookstore.
Librairie Fatou
Bookstore
Librairie Fatou is Bookstore.
Librairie Papeterie
Bookstore
Librairie Papeterie — Bookstore.
Librairie Bal
Bookstore
Librairie Bal — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Traitement de texte
Bookstore
Traitement de texte is Bookstore.
Imprimerie
Bookstore
Imprimerie is Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Imprimerie
Bookstore
Imprimerie is Bookstore.
Imprimerie
Bookstore
Imprimerie is Bookstore.
Imprimerie
Bookstore
Imprimerie is Bookstore.
Librairie Maroc
Bookstore
Librairie Maroc — Bookstore.
La connaissance
Bookstore
La connaissance is Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie le Social
Bookstore
Librairie le Social — Bookstore.
Librairie le Social
Bookstore
Librairie le Social — Bookstore.
Librairie Chretienne
Bookstore
Librairie Chretienne — Bookstore.
Librairie Chrétienne
Bookstore
Librairie Chrétienne is Bookstore.
Le Social
Bookstore
Le Social — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie Express
Bookstore
Librairie Express is Bookstore.
DS
Bookstore
DS is Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Librairie
Bookstore
Librairie — Bookstore.
Vente de cahier
Bookstore
Vente de cahier is Bookstore.
Librairie Islamique
Bookstore
Librairie Islamique is Bookstore.
Petite librairie
Bookstore
Petite librairie — Bookstore.
What the map tells us about bookstores in Abidjan
2 of the 121 list their opening hours on the map, which is genuinely useful — bookshops keep civilised hours, so the listed ones are usually reliable.
The Abidjan bookstore crawl
Making a day of it in Abidjan? Work this order: Librairie de France on Avenue Chardy, Librairie de France on Rue O13, Librairie esotherique Phoenix, Librairie Carrefour Siloe, Grande Librairie, Librairie des Soeurs Paulines, librairie du plateau, and Librairie. That's the bookstore crawl in one sensible loop, no backtracking. 113 more are listed below.
Bookstore tips for Abidjan
Browsing in Abidjan? A little strategy helps:
- Check for a café corner at Librairie de France. A bookshop with coffee is a trap in the best way. Plan accordingly; you won't be leaving soon.
- Check the events board at Librairie de France. Book clubs, writing groups, story times — bookshops are community centres that happen to sell books.
- Don't skip the small press section. The weird, wonderful stuff lives here. Small presses take the risks the big publishers won't.
- Magazines and journals matter. The little-magazine rack is where new writers appear first. Cheap, weird, and full of discoveries.
Good to know
We searched about 40 km around Abidjan — that covers the town itself plus the surrounding communities you'd reasonably drive to. Listings come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by local volunteers, so a brand-new bookstore in Abidjan can take a while to appear. The 121 above are only as current as the community map. A bookstore that's shut, or a new one nobody's added yet, gets fixed with a single OpenStreetMap edit.
We don't list prices — they change constantly and vary by edition. What we list is the where: real shops, verified by real mappers, in alphabetical order with no favourites.
If you run one of the 121 listed here and something's wrong — a closure, a move, new hours — the fix is the same: update the shop on OpenStreetMap and the correction flows through to this page on the next daily refresh.
Bookstore listings for Abidjan: 121 mapped from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Photos from Wikimedia Commons contributors; individual photo credits appear in captions. Listing data was last refreshed automatically — verify hours before visiting.