It was good to see Mrs Blackwell's letter in support of Lewes' threatened new library (Opinion, August 9).

We were also cheered by the county council's own planning committee, which passed the library plans with acclaim the other day after reporting the Cabinet's shelving of it.

But they are already selling off books in the old library to make room for the contents of the music library due to demolition.

So is the county council's own staff caf, but the Cabinet has set aside £170,000 to replace that. Only books are treated as negligible.

What is happening in Lewes? The All Saints Arts Centre has run out of money, the Millennium Art Gallery is in danger of becoming a sad joke and the public library is being reduced to a condition which no longer meets the county's own standards.

Discussing plans for a housing development at Bexhill, the county's admirable planning officer pointed out they would need to extend the library to meet the population increase.

So why cut down on the one in the county town? We need that new library.

-Jane Aiken Hodge, Eastport Lane, Lewes