Following a proposal to centralise the island’s library system, creating an island-wide membership scheme, Isle of Man Newspapers asked members of the public what they thought about the idea.

Jo Hamilton, 41, from Onchan, said she and her son, Josh, six, were regular users of the library service and was full of praise for it.

’We use the Onchan library and occasionally the Family library too,’ she said.

’They are brilliant and do lots of kids’ stuff like crafts and mask making and the one in Onchan does lots of children’s activities in the holidays, like organising visiting authors, super hero days and reading quests. It’s an amazing service.

’An all-island service might save some costs but would we lose the personal touch? It’s an important service for older people too so I wouldn’t want to see any of our libraries closing.’

Rachel Corlett, from Douglas, said she thought centralising the library system could be a good idea and the service had been a great benefit to her granddaughter.

’I can’t see any obvious objections to that,’ she said.

’My granddaughter, Daisy, who’s six, uses the library service and she is reading well for her age. She reads a lot and she enjoys it.’

Joan and John Charnock, 81 and 83, from Laxey, said they had the benefit of the mobile library service in the village.

’I think a single service that pools resources for the whole island might be a better idea,’ Mr Charnock said.

’I don’t use the service myself really as I have so many books I’ve virtually got my own library. But would any changes lead to them closing libraries down?

’There are a lot of old people in Laxey and those without cars, who are dependent on the library.’

Doreen Moule, of Carrick Bay, said, if anything, she would like to see more libraries.

’Having been used to a centralised service in the UK, I can see some advantages,’ she said.

’At the moment, if you don’t live in the designated area, you have to pay to use the library. There isn’t a library in Port St Mary or Rushen and we have to pay to use the one in Port Erin, even though it’s quite close to us. If they simply took over the existing libraries and ran them centrally, I can see an advantage but not if it involved closing any of them down. As a teacher in Douglas, I was allowed to use the Douglas library. Certainly the Port Erin library seems to be well used.’

As a convert to new technology, David Cole, 67, from Castletown, said he uses a Kindle and therefore rarely uses the library service.

’I’ve a lot of books that I still haven’t read and now I tend to use a Kindle.

’It’s so much more convenient to carry that around rather than a pile of books and you can even read it at night in the dark,’ he said.

Bronwyn Dobbie, 21, from Braddan and her friend Sammy Seed, 24, from Ramsey, thought an all -island library service may be a good idea.

’I can see an advantage in sharing resources and if you happen to be in a certain area perhaps you could use the libarary there, rather than being restricted,’ Bronwyn said.

Both said they liked the service but wouldn’t want to see closures.