How do you judge the popularity of a library?

Apparently, the Jubilee Library has seen a 230 per cent increase in visitors (The Argus, March 3).

I can bear witness to that because I have been there three times and each time found the atmosphere on the ground floor akin to a railway concourse. I'm sure many people there were just "visiting".

It was difficult to find what I wanted on the widely dispersed shelves. 70,000 books?

I don't think so.

Where would I find Joyce Porter?

On my second visit a clown was entertaining children.

I finished my fruitless book-search in a state of high anxiety, subconsciously anticipating the next whoop and shriek.

My third, and last, visit ended after five minutes when an alarm bell prompted a general exodus from the building.

No information was given by the staff.

Compare all this with the glorious new library in Lewes. On entry, the layout is immediately comprehensible.

A blue carpet, masses of bookshelves and the quiet atmosphere of a real library.

I love babies but don't let's kid ourselves that a Baby Boogie at the library is going to turn them all into voracious readers by four-and-a-half.

It does however make the library enormously "popular" by current standards.

Personally I just want a room full of books.

-Maureen James, Woodingdean