Totnes Library

Can you help us share the books everyone wants to read this month? 📚

There’s high demand for our 10 most wanted titles, and many eager customers are waiting to borrow them. We’ve purchased as many copies as our budget allows, but if you’re able to help, we’d be truly grateful.

If you have a pristine copy, you’ve finished reading - whether it’s one you bought yourself or received as a gift - you can donate it at any library in Devon or Torbay. We’ll add it to our collection to help reduce the waiting list.

Thank you so much for your support! 💚

Our Summer Book Quest events have landed! Join us for a summer of adventure in Totnes Library as we celebrate the Mission to Wayfarer Island! 🏝️📜 We have lots of things to join in with, put the dates in your diary now!

Thank-you, Caroline Voaden for highlighting this treasure of a book shop in Totnes.

Big love Castle Books, Totnes !

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬.

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

Of course, that’s Castle Books, Totnes

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟗 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝟒 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭.

Collards, as it was named then, was Totnes’s first vegetarian and wholefood café.

It wasn’t until three years after opening, in 1972, that Belle put a shelf of books in the upstairs dining area for customers to enjoy.

Quickly, the books began to take over and in 1975, Collards was transformed into Collards Books, which fast established itself as a hub for crime fiction and early illustrated books.

In 2011, another name change came; this time to ‘Belle, Book and Castle’. As Belle became older, more volunteers joined the team to keep the store open. Sadly, Belle passed away two years later, leaving a legacy that is still going strong today.

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟓𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝟒 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝟐𝟎-𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬.

I could wax lyrical about how special Castle Books is, but I’ll leave you all to do that in the comments! So let me say a massive thank you to Castle Books for everything they do for our community.

𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐧!

Please note every independent bookshop in South Devon was invited to be part of this series.