Book borrowing is declining, yet Brighton and Hove Council plans an expensive new central library. Here Adam Trimingham asks: Is it worth it?

MANY people's idea of a library is a rather shabby Victorian building stuffed full of books with a rather elderly clientele borrowing them and angular assistants insisting on silence.

The old central library in Brighton was like that and the main library in Hove, provided by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, physically fits the bill.

But most libraries in the city are in the suburbs, housed in small, airy buildings of the Fifties and Sixties.

They are, by and large, pleasant places but they are showing their age and something has to be done to improve the service.

The Audit Commission has just produced a report which said city libraries only met or exceeded 11 of the 19 national targets it sets for the service.

While it praised the staff and some services, it said visits were declining and there was concern about too few opening hours.

The library service is underfunded and does not have enough books for the population it serves.

A report on libraries will go to the next meeting of the culture committee this month.

But councillors and officials are only too aware of the merits and disadvantages of a service which costs £3.5 million a year to run.

One problem is Brighton and Hove has an unusually large number of small branch libraries. They are hard to keep going but any attempt to close them meets with huge resistance.

Culture councillor Ian Duncan said one answer might be to combine some with other council services such as housing.

The council is also opening a community library at Patcham next year as part of a larger, educational development.

He said many authorities all over the UK were having problems keeping up to the national standards.

Thousands of potential library users - students - do not go to the public libraries because they work elsewhere.

Brighton and Sussex Universities have particularly fine libraries tailored to the needs of the students.

The council is already combining with colleges and universities to see what they can offer together.

Brighton's old central library was housed for 100 years in an antiquated building at Church Street, part of the Royal Pavilion estates.

It was far too small and out of date for at least half that time but it took successive councils several decades to replace it.

The deed has still not finally been done. Financial and legal hiccups are holding up the development of a new library at Jubilee Street, opposite the old building.

Councillors still hope the new building will be up and running in two years' time, replacing the inadequate temporary building at Vantage Point near Preston Circus.

This will be bristling with new technology.

Coun Duncan said too much emphasis should not be placed on computers. The core service would still be the borrowing of books.

This will continue despite competition provided by discount booksellers which often offer classics at £1 or less.

The new library will attract more people simply because of its location and the stunning new buildings whose design has been widely praised.

There will also be a coffee shop and the library will form one side of a civic square. Also included in the development will be housing, shops, offices, and a doctors' surgery.

Labour councillor Andy Durr said the new library had been planned during the past five years in the knowledge that library visits were declining.

He said: "It will not be a traditional building. It can be altered to meet changing needs in a way that old-fashioned libraries never could."

adam.trimingham@theargus.co.uk