THE son of a library assistant has become one of the youngest book borrowers in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland.

Fred Berreur, who works at Redcar Library, and his wife, Lesley, who gave birth to Louis last month, decided to enrol their son as early as possible.

The assistant, who has worked at the library for three years, said: "I feel extremely lucky, I've got a healthy little baby. Maybe it's a bit too young, but we talk to him, so why not read to him?"

SureStart is giving every baby a free book bag and a collector card to record visits to the library. After six visits a free book is awarded.

Another scheme, called Bookstart, gives every baby a bag containing two books, an activity place mat, information for parents about using books with their baby and an invitation to join the library.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's library service has more than 31,000 borrowers - 9,000 of them are under 16.