A Different View with Dave O’Connell

There are overflowing racks outside the actual door of Charlie Byrne’s fantastic emporium in the Cornstore that are completely devoted to second-hand books – everything from well-read paperbacks to never-read, mint condition gems.

There are loads of second-hand books inside the shop as well of course, alongside all the latest releases, best sellers, local history tomes, and just about anything you’d ever imagine getting your hands on to read.

But the beauty of the second-hand option is that it’s a library service of sorts, in that you can trade your old books for someone else’s old books – and obviously, unlike a library, you can keep whatever old books you acquire.

You can trade your old books, but only for store credit which in turn just applies to those second-hand books others have also traded in.

Charlie Byrne’s isn’t unique in buying and selling old books, of course, but it’s the whole ethos of the shop and staff that makes it such a magnet, not just for Galway book lovers but for those from across the country and beyond.

There’s a similar experience to be had at your local library even if the range and depth wouldn’t match the choice on offer in Charlie’s – or indeed in Kenny’s world of wonderful books in Liosbán – and it’s something that the tablet or the Kindle will never replicate.

The beauty of libraries these days is that they’re a million miles from the libraries of our youth; they are still quieter spaces, but they no longer have the air of a convent housing a contemplative order of nuns.

There are book clubs, reading groups, children’s sessions, talks, workshops, exhibitions – a million way that wonderfully enthusiastic staff have of encouraging others to share their love of books.

And these books are free to borrow – indeed you don’t even have to go into the library to borrow their books because, through Borrow Box, they all have a vast amount of new, old and classic books available to rent in digital format.