Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions are being taken at national level to preserve and enhance a public library system which takes account of the uses and demands of new technology.

Library services are increasingly thinking of ways to serve the community in the 21^st century and are constantly looking at ways they can provide a service to their users using available new technology. WiFi is available in various public libraries, with the number of locations offering this service continuing to increase. Many libraries already provide e-books for their users and the Government recently extended the Public Lending Right to e-books for on-site lending. Various libraries are being equipped with new equipment such as advanced reading technology to enable blind and partially sighted people access to digital and physical information. Libraries are also evolving their services - Exeter library now offers a Fab Lab which is a low-cost digital workshop equipped with laser-cutters, routers, 3D scanners, 3D milling machines, and programming tools, where you can "make almost anything.