SubscribeThe Guardian today has a lovely article on what they deem the ten best second-hand bookshops in Britain. Their list is:
- Barter Books, Alnwick, Northumberland
- The Book Shop, Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway
- Scriveners, Buxton, Derbyshire
- Bath Old Books, Bath (no website)
- The Haunted Bookshop, Cambridge
- Any Amount of Books, Charing Cross Road, London
- Westwood Books, Sedburgh, Cumbria
- Wenlock Books, Much Wenlock, Shropshire
- Scarthin Books, Cromford, Derbyshire
- Gresham Books, Crewkerne, Somerset (no website)
… and it made me think about second-hand bookshops wot I have known. I don’t need to tell you people what a delight a second-hand bookshop is, and I can’t remember the last time I went into one without making at least one purchase. But, the thing is, Oxford doesn’t have many second-hand bookshops. Now, don’t get me wrong, we have them, but in the form of two or three branches of Oxfam Books. The Mind Shop up the road from me has some excellent books at the back of the shop. But what we’re lacking here is a nice, old, independent. There is an antiquarian bookshop I can think of, but lovely though it is, that’s not what I’m talking about. There’s nothing like those listed above.
There has been lots of talk recently about whether Oxfam Books is taking over the second-hand book world, forcing independents out of business. Personally, I find it hard to be annoyed with a charity that does such excellent work, but I do think there must be room for a bit of each out there. I do find it surprising – nay, staggering – that there isn’t a nice independent second-hand bookshop in the centre of Oxford. Oxford, for goodness sake. There are quite a lot of people who, y’know, quite like books around here. Actually, now that I think about it, there isn’t even an independent first-hand bookshop in the centre of town. There is one a mile or so out, in Summertown, and of course the lovely Mostly Books in Abingdon, but the middle of town has branches of three chains. (I do adore Blackwell’s though – how can anyone not?)
My home city of Glasgow, though, has some completely brilliant second-hand bookshops, all within a mile of each other around the university. Off the top of my head, there is Caledonia Books on Great Western Road, Thistle Books on Otago Street and the inimitable Voltaire & Rousseau nearby on Otago Lane. V&R is named after the owner’s two fabulous cats, both of whom can generally be found atop a higgeldy stack of books. It’s nigh on impossible to find anything in there, but that’s sort of the joy of it. You never quite know what’s going to present itself to you on any given day. It might be a dogeared old Dick Francis yarn, or it could be some first edition of something amazing. Nowt against Dick F, of course, my mum loves him.
If Glasgow can do it, why not Oxford?
Lauren 
I wonder if rent has anything to do with it…. Charities can occupy spaces rent-free, whereas a second-hand shop would have to pay, nay? My recent adventures in L’pool are a testament to just how inflated rent down here can be. It would have to be *some* independent to cover that expenditure.
One of my favourite indies, Kenny’s in Galway, went cyber and now operates from an industrial park rather than a musty, creaky joint on Shop Street. Sigh. But it does make getting there easier!