book swap
at Dead bird brewing milwaukee, wi
Free book trade table in the taproom.
Leave a book, take a book.
Please bring gently used books in good condition with a focus on popular titles that others will be excited to discover and trade!
ALL AGES WELCOME!
DOG FRIENDLY PATIO!
JOIN BOOK CLUB!
2026 DATES
Sunday Book Swap dates go from 12 - 3 PM
Thursday Book Swap dates go from 5 - 7 PM
We have local vendors that come during our Book Swaps selling anything from baked goods to raising money for the Milwaukee Public Library. Please reach out to us if you would like to be a vendor at a future date!
SUNDAY, OCT. 11
Dead Bird Brewing has partnered up with MKE Books & Beers to host a Fall Book Fair where there will be 15 local vendors/authors and specialty fall drinks as well as a book bin to donate to Bernie’s Book Drive.
DEAD BIRD BREWING BOOK CLUB
Anyone can join Dead Bird Brewing’s Book Club!
Come to one of our Book Swap dates, sign up with a valid email, and that’s it! It is Free to Sign Up and there is no responsibility or books we are reading, because we hope you are reading the books you are swaping at the Book Swaps!
What are Book Club Perks? Book Club members get Buy 1, Get 1 all tap pours and special non-alc options, like homemade Shirley Temples and our famous Butter Beer. BOGO applies at Book Swap dates, during Book Swap hours!
We send monthly emails to our Book Club members to give you a heads up on the upcoming Book Swap dates, as well of any vendors that will be attending or events. Random members are selected for FREE food apps that they can redeem during Book Swaps, so keep an eye out for those emails!
200 members as of May 2026!
why swap books?
Hi, I’m Melanie, the Marketing Manager at Dead Bird Brewing and I started Book Swap in the summer of 2025 because I felt something was missing in our taproom, connection. I wanted to create a space where people could gather, share stories, and feel a sense of community beyond just grabbing a drink. The funny thing is, I never considered myself a reader. Not even close. That changed in 2022 when I read Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan, and found myself deeply connected to a character in a way I never expected. In that moment, I realized books have a way of finding us exactly when we need them most.
At Dead Bird Brewing, sustainability matters to us, and Book Swap became another way to reduce waste while giving stories a second life. Approximately 320 million books are thrown away or sent to landfills each year in the United States, nearly 640,000 tons of waste annually. When books are left behind, I take them and fill Little Free Libraries across the city so they can continue reaching new readers. What started as a simple idea has grown into something much bigger: reducing our carbon footprint, creating conversations between strangers, and bringing true community back to the taproom.
I want to extend my endless gratitude for the support of MKE Books & Beers and our new partners, Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library, for helping this idea take off. Book Swap wouldnt be where it is today without you.