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HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR LIBRARY?

Should it be a place of calm where you can read a book in peace and quiet?

Or would you like music, video games, be able to take in your own snacks and drinks - and use your mobile phone?

The following is from an aricle in today's 'Indepedent":

The Secretary of State, Andy Burnham, will today add his voice to calls by chief librarians for a revolution to modernise public libraries and "bring them into the 21st century".

In Mr Burnham's words, this means banishing the image of libraries as "solemn and sombre places patrolled by fearsome and formidable staff" and making them "come alive for generations to come".

The Society of Chief Librarians recently spelt out what this might mean in practice, citing the north London borough of Camden as a pioneer of "diversification".

In Camden, a ban on mobile phones is being lifted and visitors will be allowed to bring snacks and drinks. The provision of computer games is among other options under consideration. And, yes, the silence rule will be lifted.

In other words, the public library of the future is envisaged as a cross between one of those big book stores with its own coffee bar and an internet café.

Books will be relegated to the sidelines, rather than being what a library is all about.

In fact, many started "diversifying" their offerings long ago by lending out CDs and DVDs and scaling back their stacks of books. Many already provide Web access and, increasingly, the silence rule is being broken.

In many of our towns and cities, Mr Burnham's "solemn and sombre place" became a period piece long ago.