For example, public libraries now lend sound and video recordings and provide access to electronic sources of information. The readiness of public libraries to react to the changing environment has not prevented them from being portrayed as staid and stuffy institutions. Libraries enjoy a high level of popularity amongst local authority services and are well used in comparison with other cultural and leisure services. Their main function remains the lending of books. In addition to book lending, libraries provide access to newspapers, periodicals, a host of local government and community information and recorded media.
Libraries also provide a space for private study, research and leisure reading.
They are used by children, the elderly and the unemployed. They also provide the venue for exhibitions, education programmes, community or social groups and innumerable other activities. Britain's public library system comprises almost 5,000 branches and mobile libraries, with a further 15,500 outlets in institutions such as old people's homes and youth centres. The book and new technology 19. The traditional heart of the public library system is the book.