Decaf soya cappuccino over a bodice-ripper in your local public library, anyone? Borrow a book in Colchester and and return it in Cheltenham? A public library in every shopping mall? If you enjoyed the book that you borrowed, why not buy a copy for a friend on the internet by our cunning public-private bookmanship? How about a loyalty card if you take out ten books, to win cinema seats? Public libraries need to be brought browsing, kicking and screaming into the high-tech revolutions of the 21st century.

These proposals are, of course, the neophiliac maunderings of the Minister of State for Culture and Silly Ideas, Margaret Hodge. She is on the side of the angels in recognising that public libraries are a public good and one of the great British liberal institutions. But she misses the point. She offers no new money for her proposed expensive innovations. Computers and the internet have their place in libraries. But the book is still one of the most contemporary, efficient and convenient inventions made by Man.

So don't overdo the modernisation of our libraries, Mrs Hodge. They need no high-tech bells and whistles. They lent about five books for every citizen last year. For a genuine public service, what matters is that public libraries should stay open at hours when all sorts and conditions of readers can get to them. They should have the widest possible range and quantity of books. Those public servants, the librarians, should be sherpas to us treasure hunters. This is not rocket or even computer science. In the internet age, libraries need to be open and full of books.