Second-hand Books for Everyone. (Barter Books)

Name: daseaford

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Product:	Barter Books
Date:	02/11/00 (728 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very Large Selection of Books.

Disadvantages: Get absorbed in browsing.

Barter Books is one of the largest second-hand bookshops in Britain and is located in a converted train station at Alnwick in Northumberland. Not only does this shop sell books, but also CD’s, cassettes, records, videos, maps and comics.

There is a very large fiction section, sorted by Author name, and a huge selection of non-fiction books, sorted according to subject matter.

The whole shop still has the feeling of a train station about it, and you are reminded about trains as there are a couple of model trains running around a train track above one section of the bookshelves near the customer service desk. Inside the entrance to the shop is a reading area set around a large, inviting open coal fire (just like we used to see in station waiting rooms). This is close to the children’s books area and it is very satisfying to see the children sitting around the open fire whilst reading books, a very homely feel to this part of the shop.

Away from this area the shelves of books spread past a small, but very welcoming, coffee bar along the old station building. This part of the shop is not so homely, but much more practical, on cold days this area of the shop is not very warm, so I would recommend you wear your coat. In fact on the last day we were there in October it was very cold, with a solid floor and stone walls I think it would take a lot to heat up this part of the shop.

Overall the prices of the books seem a little bit expensive for second-hand books, but there are a lot of rare and unusual books in the shop, and I think the prices reflect the variety value of these books. However, there are a lot of bargins to be found as well. You will need some patience to hunt around for the books you may be interested in, but everywhere the books are all shelved, there are no piles of books or boxes that you have to search through and the staff have ensured that all of the books are categorised correctly. The prices are clearly
marked, either by a colour code scheme, or with the prices written inside the front of the book.

One thing that is unusual for a second-hand bookshop is that there is actually space to walk around and browse at the books. In a large number of other second-hand bookshops we have been to everywhere normally seems very cramped and you constantly have to be asking people to move so that you can see all of the books. That is not the case in this shop. Also at Barter Books there are seats placed around the shop so that you can sit down with a book and have a good look through it. I suggest you take the book near to the warm end of the shop though.

The staff at the shop are very friendly, polite and helpful and when you do buy your books (and very few people leave without buying something), you are given a free bookmark. What more could you ask for.

If you enjoy books and are ever in this part of the country then you should visit this store. It really is worthwhile. One warning though, it is like a time machine! You intend to spend, say 30 minutes in the shop, and suddenly you find 2 or 3 hours have passed. It is a very addictive shop.

One fact I can guarantee is that a trip to this shop is much more interesting than buying books on-line, but if that is what you want to do then the bookshop also has a very good website and more information can be seen there, at:

http://www.barterbooks.co.uk

Happy hunting and good reading.

Summary: