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The long-awaited library review will say that libraries can still flourish if they offer free internet access, Sunday opening and a promise to provide any book in the national book collection, a review on the future of libraries concludes, according to the Guardian. The review also insists that councils must retain a statutory duty to provide a universal library service.
In her introduction culture minister, Margaret Hodge warns that "the context in which libraries operate is changing starkly and at speed", and adds that "public libraries are not about sitting back and passively waiting for people to borrow your books".
The Guardian, which has clearly seen a leaked copy of the review, reports that that government will impose a statutory ban on libraries charging for ebooks, including remotely. It will, however, extend the public lending right to non-print books. There is a comittment to free access to the internet in all Britain's libraries by 2011.