PROVIDING a hub for cultural life in the centre of town is something owner Charles Tongue aims for with Stroud Bookshop.

Charles, who opened the shop 17 years ago, aims to provide an outstanding personal service, but also tries to support and contribute to the community.

He organises literary events, publicises events on the shop's free notice board, sells tickets to local events and provides a forum, in conjunction with the farmers' market, for local authors to meet the public.

The shop has also provided funding for local arts groups through a grant scheme in the past.

It stocks around 5,000 carefully chosen titles and supports the SNJ's Shop Local campaign.

Charles says staff offer a friendly personal service and can search out books on any obscure subject.

"All of the staff here are book lovers - they know a good book and can genuinely advise readers about what is good and what is not," he said.

"The books are carefully selected – we do not just carry the mass market books that other shops might."

Charles says the shop has a deceptively wide range of books – being able to order nearly a million other titles for delivery within 24 hours.

Charles fully supports the idea of a Stroud currency and thinks money should be kept circulating in the local economy.

"If you buy books off a website, you are giving your money to a multinational company, and will probably never see the benefits of it, if you put it back into the local economy the benefits are obvious," he said.

Charles' favourite books include A fine balance by Rohinton Mistry and Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams.

*Charles has recommended these two holiday reads for SNJ readers. They are White Tiger by Aravind Adiga and Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. Both are available at Stroud Bookshop, 23 High Street, Stroud. Or call 01453 756646 to find out more.