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.

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.

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.

very useful for all in the community - would be lost without itread more

This library is a great community for avid readers in the area. It may be small but is has a…read morereasonable selection of fiction, non-fiction, DVDs, CDs, audio books and language courses for hire but the thing that I love most about the library (and about Britain for that matter) are the groups. There's a reading group, a writing group and a very popular local history group too. There's also free internet and computer access for those who need it and a completely separate children's library which the little mites love.