The Malta Library and Information Association has asked why plans for a public library in Renzo Piano's Parliament building designs have been changed and do not include a library.

In a statement it said that the City Gate area was the ideal location for the island's main public lending library, currently in a place considered out of the way by many, including the association, in Floriana.

Most public libraries in European cities can be found in prominent, central and easily accessible locations.

The association said that it had drawn up a short report proposing a public library in this location and this could be downloaded from its homepage at www.malia-malta.org.

Considerable public support for this idea was gathered through an i-petition and a Facebook group and details have been presented to the Prime Minister in March this year.

"If there is not enough space in the allocated site for both a public library and a museum, MaLIA feels that a state-of-the-art public library service should take precedence over a museum in this location.

"Surveys have shown that all sections of the public, from school children to old-age pensioners, would prefer a centrally located public lending library.

"Such a public library would be of greater benefit than a museum."

The organisation said that since most of the Palace, which currently housed Parliament, wasgoing to be changed into museum spaces, the museum being proposed for the new Parliament building could be housed there.

"If Renzo Piano himself is in favour of a public library in this important location, should not the general public including the 'group that joined the fray' who have proposed and promoted this idea, expect to see a public library as suggested originally?"