Reports results of a questionnaire survey of users of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Collection (LGB) located in, and shared between, Brighton Central Library and nearby Hove Central Library, UK; to determine who uses it, reasons for use, what resources are used and the benefits of having a separate and centralized collection. Questionnaires were made available at the two libraries with sealed boxes provided in which to deposit responses to ensure anonymity and confidentiality and were available during November and December 1997. Forty four completed questionnaires were received and the results were analysed using SPSS. The importance of the Collection to the LGB community was confirmed, but the view that such collections also serve the wider community could not be supported from the profile of respondents. Concludes that separate collections aid information access and that concerns of ‘ghettoization’ seem unfounded. A centralized collection increases access and availability and bibliographies aid access and possibly lead to greater use. Most respondents use the LGB Collection for recreational use, particularly fiction, highlighting a gap in the research literature and showing that even advocates of LGB Collections have underestimated this need.
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