Winchester Discovery Centre was very busy on a Friday lunchtime at the start of the school summer holidays. There was a science festival on and the Animal Agents summer reading challenge was in full swing.

The Discovery Centre opened in November 2007 after a £7million refurbishment. The entrance still has grand pillars outside but inside it is very modern and clustered around the central circular area. It was colourful, inviting, lively and with funky colours and signs.

I think Winchester wins the prize for the best library name as “Discovery Centre” really is a wonderful name for a library and cultural hub.

There were lots of study spaces dotted around the library – a large number in use for a summer Friday. There is a café, performance hall, gallery and small library shop.

There was a display of a Jane Austen books as she lived in Hampshire and it is the 200 year anniversary of her death. There was a proper exhibition earlier in the year but that had finished before we got there.