Browsers Bookshop, at Riverbank Lane, 298 Victoria Street in Hamilton Central, is a secondhand bookshop that opened in May 1996. It was started by Rachel Pope, who dreamed of running a secondhand bookshop after moving to Hamilton. It has been locally owned and run since 2008. The shop has a wide range of books, including a rare books section with first editions, signed copies and antiquarian works. Customers who want to sell their books can contact the shop to talk through the process. A staff member can also look out for a title that is hard to find.
The shop has a loyalty card: after ten purchases, a customer gets free books. The website lists opening hours of Monday and Tuesday from 9.30am to 5pm, and says the shop is open every day. In 2023 it was featured in "150 Bookshops You Need to Visit Before You Die".
Customers who have written about the shop describe it as nostalgic and warm, with a wide range of books and a friendly, helpful team. One shopper said it made Christmas shopping easy for a hard-to-buy-for relative.
Our pick in Hamilton Central for a browse among secondhand books and a few rare finds.