Libraries to allow snacks and chats

Libraries are dropping their "no talking" rule in an effort to attract younger users.

After more than 150 years of strict silence, patrons will also be allowed to bring food, watch football and use mobile phones. Public libraries will die out if they are not given a cultural makeover, it is claimed.

Society of Chief Librarians' president Tony Durcan said: "We don't want greasy fish and chips spilled over 15thcentury books. But nor do we want people coming somewhere where they can't eat, drink, or talk at all."

Camden council's libraries are being overhauled, and one in Whitechapel has changed its name to "ideas store".

In Hillingdon, borrowing at one library rose 32 per cent with the arrival of a Starbucks café. The chain is now coming to the borough's 17 libraries.

Councillor Henry Higgins said: "Why would anyone want to borrow a book from somewhere dusty and antiquated? So we changed things."