Letter: The Lindley Library belongs in London

Sir: I write in full support of Anna Pavord's well-researched and illuminatingly presented article on the inadvisability of moving the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley Library from London to its garden at Wisley, where, for most users, it wil l be difficult to reach ("Don't bury the books in the garden" 11 January).

The council have made up their minds that this move shall take place. They have discussed the matter extensively but with fairly closed minds from the start. The advantages, as well as the glamour, of totally new premises can all too easily be carried bya few bulldozing committee members who don't want to consider alternatives or disadvantages. Information on aspects of their deliberations that runs counter to their over-riding preference for the move, has, as Ms Pavord points out, been withheld.

A ballot should be held to allow members to express their preference. London is a hub more easily reached by a larger number of the population than any other British centre. Members' convenience deserves the greatest consideration. Ms Pavord's conclusionrings only too true: "It is clear that Wisley needs the Lindley Library rather more than the library needs Wisley."

Yours etc, Christopher Lloyd Rye, East Sussex 16 January