Concerns have been raised about the multi-million-pound new library proposed for Winchester.

City councillors have confirmed they will invest £1m and give up a chunk of their Jewry Street car park to allow the £7m expansion.

The county council wants to combine the lending and reference libraries and add a gallery, caf, IT suite, lecture theatre, learning rooms, toilets and crche.

They see it as a way of stopping the decline in library use and giving Winchester a stunning building. Councillors were expected to back the project yesterday at a meeting of the recreation and heritage committee.

But at Wednesday's full city council meeting, councillors said their broad support was tempered by some fears. Patrick Davies, Labour leader, said: "It's far from clear how this will improve the lending of books. I'm all for the modern quirks, but it should remain a library."

He said it would be better to sacrifice all the car park to ensure the new library was large enough. "I'm not persuaded it's any more necessary for the library to have a car park than for the theatre next door, if it means some facilities are going to be cramped."

But Tory, Fred Allgood, said it was important to retain some car parking. "It's essential. No-one is going to use park and ride just to spend five minutes returning a book."

Mr Allgood said the city council needed to be closely involved with the scheme, even though it is a junior partner to the county.

The plans have been criticised for not focusing enough on books, with too much emphasis on other media. But councillor, Kelsie Learney, said similar schemes had seen usage quadruple. "If you get people in, the books leave with them."

City council leader, Sheila Campbell, said: "It will be a centre of excellence of learning and the arts. There's no getting away from the need for books and I'm sure the county council won't be doing so."