When I used the Library of Congress, I didn't need a special pass – it was open to all. The solution is to find space for more readers, as in the original plans for the new library. Scholarship and knowledge should be open to all, regardless of academic status.

Dr Kathleen Bell, Nottingham, England

What a pompous and arrogant suggestion to imply undergraduate s are not worthy of using the reading rooms at the BLi! I used the BL facilities and books to research and write my dissertation last year because I needed to use rare books and others not available at my uni or local library.

jessica sturman, norwich, england

Space is at a premium in London. Would it not have been better to locate the British library (when it moved from the British Museum) to Manchester or Birmingham?

As a student studying in London, university libraries do not have long enough opening hours, especially on a Sunday.

Freya, London,

The attitude of some academics is unbelievable. An individual's intellectual career must begin somewhere, and for the vast number of people this is as an undergrad. Denying academics of the future access to such resources because they are not deemed to be conducting "serious research" is ludicrous.

S Evans, Nottingham,

The BL is a national institution, not a facility for London-based undergrads.

Chris Thompson, Rotherham, UK

What arrogance to suggest that the students have less right to use the British Library than anyone else. They are using it for reading in order to further and better themselves in terms of education and knowledge. Where do you think the next wave of scholars and academics will come from?

Daniel Xuereb, Cardiff, Wales

the B L was built for serious reserch by writers, historians and people who need specialist material only on offer at the B L. it is totaly stupid to allow under graduates doing general reserch to use this specialist facility

SCOTT MORGAN, london, g b

(Subtext) Bright young people using libraries are unaware that their role is shopping for hoodies on unsecured credit. We must print Latin texts only or our hegemony will never be maintained.

Will we prosper culturally or economically if we deny our young minds access to our greatest resources?

Ged, Oxford, UK

Where else are undergraduate students supposed to find specialised texts and conduct research in their holidays? Surely we should be applauding the commitment and hard work of these students? My own (undergraduate) daughter uses the British Library during the holidays. She doesn't do it to "enjoy a frappucino" as some disgruntled users of the Library suggest, and the idea that those studying courses in hairdressing use the facilities for research is laughable. Why would she undertake a journey of 1hr at a significant cost, if she could do the work in our public library or at home? This is simply elitism on the part of some established figures.
Why can't the provision of working space be expanded?

Dave, London,

I have noticed this crowding, not only of the reading rooms but also the public spaces around the cafes. I can understand why students would want to make use of the building: it is very nice. However, the BL should not be an extension of the JCR. That is not why it was built at —huge cost— and not its purpose.

That it is being misused in this way indicates a problem elsewhere: there are simply too many students these days. Further education has been used by successive governments as a dumping ground for the otherwise unemployed. As a left-winger, Lady Antonia Fraser is as guilty as anyone in promoting the sort of anti-elitism that fills London's Colleges with 'media-studies' and 'hair-dressing' students. So she should not now be surprised that she can't find a chair in the BLreading rooms. On the contrary: she should be applauding this latest sign of egalitarianism.

Adrian Gilbert, Tonbridge,

If the BL is used extensively by undergraduates, rather than academics and other serious researchers, it will undermine its purpose as the British library. Instead it will become, like so many other institutions, a nominally British facility catering only to those in London. This is to be deplored.

And as for the person quoted as using the Rare Books room because it is quieter - the reason it is quieter is it is for people using rare books. It is not a general reading room.

John Scott, London,