Could the founder of Penguin Books be commemorated by having a room in the refurbished Exeter Central Library named after him?
Members of Exeter Board were happy with the decision to name the revamped area in front of the library Rougemont Place and Simon Bowkett, city councillor for Pinhoe posed the question that one of the rooms in the library could be named after Sir Allen Lane who, the story goes, was inspired to create paperbacks book while waiting for a train at Exeter St David's.
The year was 1934 and Sir Allen, who worked for the family publishing firm Bodley Head, had been paying a visit to Agatha Christie and found himself at the station with nothing handy to read.
The suggestion is to go back to the county council for consideration.
Meanwhile members of Exeter Board have agreed to pay "up to £5,000" to support an opening programme of events to mark the launch of the refurbished Exeter Central Library.
Ciara Eastell, correct Devon's head of libraries, culture and heritage, told the board: "We are keen to make as big a splash as we can and invite every school in the city to have a class visit.
"So often we do things on a shoestring in libraries, and we would like to do it to a better standard and reach more people."
The county council was asking the board for £5,000, and board member Cllr Rob Hannaford said it would be a shame to spoil the ship for a ha'worth of tar, particularly if the money was to be used to get children involved in reading.
However, fellow board member Cllr Emma Morse felt they should wait to see more about how the schools would be involved before agreeing to spend the money.
Eventually the board agreed to spend up to £5,000 on the official opening and leave it to its grants committee to decide what the eventual figure would be.
