Libraries: Shhh… it’s a Book Bar

A new breed of library designed to attract teenagers is about to spring up across England from this month. Radhika Holmstrom takes a look at the Book Bar concept and its benefits for young people

“My friends ask me what I’m doing going to a library,” says 14-year-old Ben Towers. “They think it’s nerdy, but when I ask them if they’d go to a cafe in a library they say they would.” Indeed, that sort of cafe will soon be available in Ben’s local library in Buxton, Derbyshire, as well as in 18 others across England.