Star comment: Libraries need to move on to survive

But read all about it, and shout it from the rooftops . . . times are changing, and our libraries will surely be all the better for it.

Strict rules banning the use of mobile phones, along with eating and drinking, are finally being lifted in a bid to make Shropshire Council's 22 libraries more appealing to today's modern generation.

Inevitably, this will offend traditionalists who hark back to the days when they were deemed to be places for quiet academic study and contemplation.

But Shropshire's network of libraries have already been dramatically transformed since those days. No longer will you encounter a frightening schoolteacher-style manager hissing the word 'silence' at anyone who dared to disturb the peace.

Today, you are just as likely to find a group of young people enjoying an interactive storytelling session, or even an educational sing-song, as you are to see a solitary bookworm relaxing silently in the corner.

So let us not criticise Shropshire Council for merely trying to move with the times – people are quick to complain when they consider the local authority to be doing quite the opposite.

When so many community facilities, like pubs and corner shops, are living a precarious existence in our towns and villages, any initiative which has the potential to safeguard the future of our libraries, making them more inclusive community meeting places, should be warmly welcomed.

Many people run their lives through their mobile phones these days, and find themselves eating on the move as they juggle a busy diary.

So why should they be prohibited from doing this in a safe, secure, and well-managed wi-fi enabled library?

The most important thing now is for doubters to give these new policies a chance, and for regular library users not to abuse the new-found freedom and run the risk of alienating fellow customers.