If you are a book worm and love the warm inviting smell of old books lining wooded shelves you have…read moreto visit the Rochester library ..it looks ancient within and so so inviting with nice comfy seats scattered everywhere within the 3-4 rooms where the books live. The lighting is mellow and I can absolutely lose contact with the world sitting with a book inside this library. They have a very good collection of multi-cultural books and dvd's. The laibrarians like the libaray are soft spoken and helpful and do a good job of keeping the library thus well maintained.

So, I was sat in the library resting my back after a long day in A&E after some man made me go on…read morethe ride Turbo (the rollorcoster) on Brighton Palace Pier. Anyway, I had just purchased a Brand New back rest from the shop for £25, Well. I stole my Grandsons £50 note so it wasn't really my money. That's how I ended up on the pier as I used half the £50 there before. Back on subject, I was sat in the library when a Young Lassy Came in shouting: "A B C D E F G gummy bears are chasing me, One is red. One is blue. One is chewing up my shoe. Now i'm running for my life coz the red one of t a knife" I got so scared my False teeth dropped out!!! I got up rapidly, Screaming as I thought someone was coming in armed with a knife. As I stood up my back brace got stuck on the chair causing the chair to come with me, The next thing I knew I was being kicked out and I was screaming as they locked the doors saying "THE GUMMY BEAR WILL KILL ME, THE GUMMY BEAR WILL KILL MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" And they came out. I hoped they were coming to help, they took the chair back and even worse. MY BACK BRACE WENT WITH IT!!! Well, My grand daughters purse is next anyway...

There aren't that many inner city libraries that lay claim to being such stylish, well-stocked…read moresanctuaries of calm. A few years back when I first arrived in Brighton, the area where the library now stands was a waste ground I used to park my car when I went for a swim at Prince Regents. Now I look at its modernistic spangled lines and get a real hit from appreciating at the regeneration. Those funky ergonomic benches outside with the Blade Runner-blue lights seem to have stopped working but inside it's still very much a fresh proposition. Loads of desks to study, a decent world cinema DVD library, a quiet room to work in, plus a great kids play area and children's books section too at the back. The one problem is the acoustics - it would be a perfect space for theatre of music as it's so vast and high - as such if there's someone really noisy you all hear him.

This is one of the biggest libraries in Medway and is housed in an ancient huge building on the…read morebanks of the river Medway. This library has a huge collection of books of every type..specially appealing to some are the books in languages other than english ..like bengali, hindi, urdu, punjabi, chinese etc This library has a good collection of dvd's in different languages too and has a referal section too. There is a small brightly decorated kid's section too and a number of computers for users. The most notable feature however is the introduction of self -checkout systems that were installed last year and does cut down the waiting time for getting your books being stamped.

It's not surprising that Jubilee Library has won awards for design and architecture. It's a truly…read morestunning building that towers above all the others in the North Laines. Inside it's just as impressive - with huge glass windows, high ceilings and wide open spaces. There's a great study area for students, a lounge area where people can relax and read magazines and newspapers and a big I.T. suite where you can tap and print away. The problem is... the lack of books! You'd think being a library you wouldn't be able to move for books, right? If only. There's probably more books on one floor of Waterstones than there is in this whole building. Maybe they ran out of money and couldn't afford many? Maybe they think everybody would be so floored by the building they wouldn't think of borrowing a book? Who knows.

The Jubilee Library is a library like none I've joined before! When I was a kid, my local library…read morewas a one room ex-Scout hut! Though I've used lots of libraries since, and many much larger than the Jubilee (university libraries etc.), none have been as visually stunning. I am not always a fan of modern architecture, but the clean lines and sheer size of this glass building make it a pretty impressive structure. Easy on the eye? Yes. Heavy on the books? No. Like Sarah-Jane B., I am baffled by the Jubilee library's paltry selection of literature. It seems such a shame to build a library of such epic proportions and then leave it virtually empty! It's almost as if they let the architect order the books and s/he carried the minimalist theme right into the library! On a number of occasions I have looked for a book only to find they don't have it- they have even had to request inter-library loans for me. Is it just me, or does it seem ridiculous that the smaller Sussex libraries are lending their books to Brighton's central library??? Aside from the book deficit (which is a pretty major problem), this is a nice, quiet place to read and is in a great location.

So much better since it has been refurbished. It now looks clean, tidy and spacious…read more Thet have installed self service points for borrrowing and returning books. A quick easy service to use. Other services avaliable eg. computers, photocopier, information etc. Helpful and friendly staff on hand if you need anything. A good public service.

Ightham Mote (pronounced 'Eye-tum Moat') is one of my favourite spots to take friends and visitors…read more The setting, on a hot summer's day, is just perfect: you approach through a lovely, quiet valley (astonishingly so, given how close you are to London), and suddenly, there is a beautiful 14th Century Manor-House, set in a wide moat, surrounded by delightful gardens. The house itself dates from 1320, with additions dating to around the early 1500's. Set around an internal courtyard, features include the original 14th century Great Hall, Old Chapel, Crypt, and a Tudor chapel with a painted ceiling, with motifs reflecting the marriage of Catherine of Aragon to Henry VIII. The house features classic overhanging Tudor wooden-framed walls. The gardens are small but delightful, but the parkland around is very extensive (over 500 acres - 200 hectares). There are both cycle-ways and marked foot-paths around the estate for the more energetic visitor. Being owned by the National Trust, there is an excellent small shop and cafe, with details on accessibility on its web-site.

This is a charming historical building and gardens. Dating back to the 13th century, it reflects…read morethe layers of renovation over the ages all on top of the original 'bones'. It also has a wonderful feel to it of a house someone really lived in, as opposed to a cold museum. Oh, and be sure not to miss the painting of the house and moat by Winston Churchill in the library! The gardens are also lovely, small scale, with some very pretty topiary. All this is set into the background of the moat, which provides a cool feel on a warm summer day. The cafe is also nicely run with a good selection of fresh items for lunch or snack. All in all, a very worthwhile stop!!

Brighton does pretty well for libraries, with the huge Jubilee Library offering what most residents…read moreneed in the centre of town, and the Hove and Moulsecoomb branches offering more intimate services for residents looking for that particular book or magazine. The Hove Library, in particular, is excellent, with much of what I needed when living in the area: where the Jubilee seems to have more general fiction, the Hove Library had some of the more obscure texts I needed for a play I was working on. Brilliantly useful, and free! What more could you want? Where the Jubilee Library is a modern behemoth of glass and metal, the Hove Library is housed in a beautiful old Edwardian building, fitting much better into Hove's more old-fashioned aesthetic. Inside, the metal and glass theme returns, but more tastefully than the Jubilee's oppressive modernity: in this case, it is restricted to the lift/stairs combo in the middle of the house. The book selection here also seems to be a little more select. Instead of a random selection of some more pulpy fiction, the collections here seem to be more specialised, focusing on more arty books and dense and foreign fiction. Since this is exactly what I go for in books, this appealed more to me than the Jubilee's focus on kids and new media. That being said, books do seem to often get lost between all of the different libraries around town: more often than not, a book I've wanted was somewhere, and is now somewhere else... I normally just gave up and bought it on Amazon. I still think it's amazing that the government provides its people with free books, and that's more than enough for me. I sometimes wish that the libraries were slightly better organised, and Brighton and Hove is no exception, with plenty of books catalogued but not around. Still, better loads of free books than that one particular one you want.

Hove Library has to be one of the most grand and simultaneously comfortable seats of knowledge that…read moreI have ever had the pleasure of bettering myself in. With its' huge frontage and borderline Latin carved lettering this place has the immediate air of a high church of written information. Once within its' walls there is little to dissuade you from the opinion you may have formed before crossing the threshold from dirty street into the confines of Steven Fry's literary mind. I went through a stage of using this place as a destination for winter reflection indulging in such tomes as "Dombey and Son" or ascending the vast helical staircase into the archive room and discovering great volumes on the history of Sussex amongst the masses of foreign students. This place is, in my opinion, quite special. Not like the average council library with 1970s concrete box architecture, but a brilliant balance between Victorian authority and modern day information.

Queenwood Library is part of the University of Brighton. There ia a large stock of books here…read morecovering such subject areas as Health, tourism, sport and leisure. During term time it is open 7 days a week. You have to be a student at the university to be able to borrow books but you can join as an external member for a fee. Anyone is able to use the library for reference purposes.

Its a real shame that Canterbury hasn't got a better library as this is really too small and…read moretherefore can't stock that much. There has been talk for years of new location and it was hoped that the new Whitefriars complex would find a new home for it, but it wasn't to be. I have given it four stars because the service is great and the staff are really friendly. If you ask for a internet password you can order books from home, for a 25p, fee and have them shipped in from other libraries which makes up for the limited stock.

Just about to have a massive refurbishment. The library is found in the Beany Institute and is a…read morenice building. Includes some free exhibitions which are good. Helpful source of local information.