Q. I have been a member of the London Library
for about 25 years, but now that the membership fee is going up to £375 I really feel in two minds about renewing my subscription. I hardly ever go to London these days because I always seem to break some traffic rule when I do so, but I have very fond memories of the Library and would hate to feel I was perpetually excluded from it if new-money members swarm in to take my place. What guidance can you offer, Mary?
Name withheld, Burford A. The fees seem very high, but when you consider that they permit online access, through your home computer, to all manner of valuable data banks such as JSTOR and the DNB, the £7 per week seems something of a bargain. The social opportunities of the staircase are second to none and the atmosphere of the reading room conducive to productivity. If you see the increase as an incentive for you to make use of your membership rather than treating the Library as a gym and never going, then you can turn it to your advantage.
If you have a problem write to Dear Mary, c/o The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP.
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