Libraries turn a new leaf to avert extinction

The Guardian Says It may seem a small thing – a Victorian public library with a Welcome banner across its front, extra books and a touch of Starbucks inside. Yet it is being seen as the last best hope of stopping Britain’s 154-year tradition of free libraries from becoming extinct.
The library, at Richmond in west London, is one of three in the UK which re-opened yesterday with fanfares and visits by celebrity authors after intensive 12-week makeovers. The idea was to make them more exciting and convenient for users as “models of a future library service with reading at its heart”. The transformations – each costing £90,000 – are designed to turn them into national showcases demonstrating how catastrophic declines in book borrowing and visitor numbers could be reversed.

July 12, 2006 by Uncategorized 0

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