Argyle Emporium

Second-hand books and records fill what was once Goulburn's police station and courthouse, a substantial heritage building near the railway line where the original gaol cells still stand, now shelved floor to ceiling with stock. The layout runs through a warren of corridors and former holding rooms, rewarding the kind of slow browsing that turns up a subject you didn't know you were after. Vinyl, CDs and boxed DVDs share the space with books on seemingly every topic. It trades on atmosphere as much as inventory: few second-hand dealers can offer a lock-up cell as a reading nook. Opposite the station, it makes an easy detour for anyone breaking the trip between Sydney and Canberra, and a reminder of how much civic architecture a heritage town like this quietly keeps in use.