Your readers may have seen recent media reports that some libraries are trying to attract users by allowing food and drink into the building and doing away with traditional rules over noise levels.
In Westminster, however, we are investing in services and getting the basics right, rather than using short-term initiatives.
The investment Westminster Council is making in libraries is paying dividends.
Up to March this year, a total of 2,464,342 people visited our libraries and we issued 2,377,022 books - considerably more than the same time last year.
Moreover, our libraries hosted 5,500 events last year, including internet taster sessions, baby bounce and rhyme classes, children and teenagers' sessions and National Year of Reading events. These were attended by more than 106,000 people.
We are now in the process of spending almost £2million to further improve buildings and services.
This money has been spent on projects such as machines to scan books in and out, just like using self service tills at supermarkets. Users can do this in English, Chinese, Arabic and Bengali.
I hope our residents can see that by laying strong foundations and concentrating on getting important services right, our libraries can be a really useful resource for study, finding entertainment or simply for finding a good read. Cllr Audrey Lewis
Cabinet Member for Customers and Neighbourhoods
Westminster City Council
