Hampshire's library book-buying fund is back at its 2002 level of £2.3m.

For the last two years, £500,000 has been "diverted" to help pay for a programme of refurbishment and it was matched each time by funding from the council's repair and maintenance budget.

Libraries across the county have benefited, with major refurbishments now complete at Chandler's Ford, Yateley, Fleet, Odiham and a revamped Farnborough library due to reopen its doors to the public next month.

The council claims that visitor numbers and book loans have increased at all its new and revamped libraries - even before the launch of its multi-million pound discovery centres.

The £1.2m library at Alton, complete with 11,000 new books, has seen an 81% rise in visitors and a 42% increase in book loans.

Alton is the last big traditional library to be built before the opening of the first £2m discovery centre at Gosport in March.

At Winchester, there are plans are for a £7m cultural centre. The county says it aims to appeal to a wider audience by combining library, learning and cultural facilities.

Chandler's Ford library, which reopened and extended its hours just before Christmas following a refit, attracted 486 new members in the first three weeks while the popularity of Yateley library is also said to have improved after a makeover.

Altogether, 11 libraries are open longer, with another eight to follow.

Tim Coates, author of last year's hard-hitting report on Hampshire library service, "Who's in Charge?", says more still needs to be done.

"There are still big questions about value for money and I am disappointed that the council has not addressed them and I still say they should so people are not paying more than they should for the library service," he added.