22 JANUARY 1994, Page 22

Required reading

Sir: I vouch for the following dialogue, for I was the Reader.

Reader: 'Can you please tell me why in this Lowestoft public library the Guardian is not with all the other newspapers, but there is a notice saying it has to be asked for at the desk?'

Librarian: 'Because Guardian readers keep nicking bits out of it.'

Arnold Butler

11 Morton Peto Close, Somerleyton, Lowestoft, Suffolk