Anyone visiting Abergavenny Library this week will be somewhat taken aback to discover just how many new books are on display!

The library is providing a temporary home for several thousand tomes mainly on topics connected to the two World Wars and railways and almost all in pristine condition.

They’re just part of a collection acquired by local company Clutter Clearance during a house clearance in Croesyceiliog - and they’re all for sale, with the proceeds going to the National Eisteddfod fund.

“We believe the owner, who was being taken into care, had once been an engineer in the RAF,” said library officer Claire Cross.

“Ollie Whittal-Williams at Clutter Clearance had asked other libraries if they wanted the books but they’d said ‘no’. He came to us and said he was willing for us to sell them so we said we’d have them all!

“There was a short pause and he said ‘I don’t think you understand…’ It turned out there were about seven thousand of them.

“He started bringing them in boxes and black bags, many in pristine condition and still in their original packaging.

“We took as many as we possibly could. They’re stacked up all over the place.

“I’m sure there are some real bargains among them because we haven’t had the time to price everything up.

“We looked up on Amazon the price of one boxed set of World War One and World War Two books, still in their cellophane, and it was £100.

“We’ve had one local railway enthusiast come back here five times!”

The library are taking a selection of the books to sell at a pop-up stall at County Hall in Usk today.

Ollie Whittal-Williams said it appeared that the gentleman whose bungalow they were clearing had been an avid book collector but that it had all got a bit too much for him, with many of the books still in their packaging.

“It’s taken us several weeks to sort everything out. We eventually took three or four truckloads to Abergavenny Library. They could have launched a whole section on military history!

“The ones we have left we’re aiming to take to local charity shops,” he said.