WITHOUT any public consultation and at a time when book borrowing has dropped by 33 per cent, Worcestershire County Council has reduced library book borrowing times from four weeks to three.

Not a big deal, you might think, but four weeks was a comfortable (and easily remembered) time to read and return a book and, after all, it's not a race, is it? Reading is supposed to be a pleasant and relaxing pastime.

The reason given for the change is 'to increase the turnover of library stock,' but I feel the move could be counter-productive, for, if you are under pressure to get your books back in a shorter time, you are not inclined to take out yet more books, are you?

Perhaps the library service could explain why the borrowing public (i.e. the council-tax payers) was not considered sufficiently mature to consult on this fairly radical change, and the reasoning behind the thought that, if you give people less time to read books, they will inevitably borrow more?

Mike Baker,

The Furrows, Stoke Heath