While the overall impression of the new Brighton Library is highly impressive, few users - in all honesty - feel the layout and facilities have been arranged in a manner befitting a major public institution.

It took me a while to realise how the diagonal alignment of ground floor shelving fills undue amounts of space, while blocking lines of sight along the aisles. Imagine a supermarket arranged like this.

There are no large tables near the encyclopaedias and dictionaries, only knee-high tables more suitable for an infants' tea party.

Mixing loanable and non-loanable reference books diminishes the authority of the collection by creating the bustle of borrowing in supposedly studious areas. It also means reference books cannot be reliably found in place, becoming

jostled by the lending stock.

More troubling is the complete lack of a community area for posters and flyers. Think of all the events, civic groups and amenities publicised in Hove Library's lobby. Why can't this far larger building include a basic noticeboard and leaflet drop? Or would it somehow muddy the architectural lines?

The danger is use could fall off after the initial novelty visits, unless the library is made less of a showpiece and more of a utility. Having commissioned the building, the council is duty-bound to correct these problems.

After all, this is a PFI scheme which still has to be paid for (and there are plenty of closure times in which to shift furniture!). Otherwise, the library may not be sustainable in the long term. Mind you, it would make a nice piece of real estate.

-Peter Poole, Hove