Public libraries, a royal road to learning for all, are a quiet triumph of British civilisation. Lesser nations find that borrowers don't bring books back. When Mrs Brown joined, libraries were libraries. Philanthropists knew their value. Andrew Carnegie, who declared that to die rich would be to die disgraced, built 660 public libraries in Britain. John Passmore Edwards notched up only 24, but gave books to dozens more. In too many libraries now, for all their internet access and chatty surroundings, books are the missing element. When borrowed, they do more than decorate a room.