§ Mr. BaldryTo ask the Minister for the Arts whether he intends to charge for basic book-lending at libraries.
§ Mr. LuceNo. As I have said in my recently published Green Paper, the Government's objectives are to preserve and support the provision at public expense of the free basic book-lending and reference services of public libraries. Within this context, I also want to encourage library authorities to expand their sources of revenue so as to provide their customers with better and more client-oriented and cost-effective services.