One must remember An Post have now closed many smaller post-offices and they have been replaced by 'agencies.' The difference is the post-offices were staffed by dedicated people who were kept up to date on all services. Agencies are not similar i.e. they offer very limited service and are usually found in the corner of a supermarket run by a person who is employed by the supermarket owner, not An Post. Hence the inferior service. Chances are, to get full service, it is better to go to a main post-office. On the issue of sending books abroad, in my day (I am a former employee) there was a special service for books, subject to weight limitations. The sender also had to leave one end of the bundle open to make it obvious the parcel contained books only. I am not sure if such a service still exists.