Information Activities of Secondhand Shoppers: Secondhand shoppers are pursuers of serious leisure and their information activities are focused on building community and actively participating in information creation, rather than seeking traditional reference information and conducting formal research. Important sources of information for this community are word of mouth, visual information, and online communities such as blogs and social networking platforms. Libraries and information centers can support this community’s needs by creating space and opportunities for secondhand shoppers to come together to learn about, discuss, and carry out their practice of shopping secondhand. Because little research has been done to examine the information behaviors of secondhand shoppers, literature focused on related and overlapping groups such as consumers, fashion enthusiasts, online shoppers, and hobbyist collectors is also referenced in this paper.

Zoe Tran is a first-year MLIS student with a special interest in Archives and Preservation. She currently works in higher education administration with an emphasis on career development. Zoe earned her BA in History and Classical Civilization from Boston University in 2018.