I, like many people, I suspect, have a nostalgic fondness for libraries. As a child I went to the library at least once a week. There were always plenty of books to satisfy my voracious reading habit. But as an adult, I never use the library. I tried to patronise both FH and Sydenham library with my kids, but they always struggled to find the books they wanted and there's no one there with the knowledge to direct them to alternatives. When I walk into FH library, my first thought is: where are the books?

Maybe the logical thing is to push ahead with the trend to make local libraries into community resource centres. Then move all the books to a central location where many more could be stocked, and have a really quick and efficient system for ordering and picking up your books locally.