DESPITE being big enough to house 12 miles of archive collections, 250,000 books, 800 study stations and more than 26,000 records of historic monuments and buildings, people are struggling to find The Hive.

That is the conclusion of an in-house report produced by Worcester City Council, which says signage directing visitors to the landmark building is “limited and not highly visible”. Almost a year since the £60 million golden-cladded facility opened for business, politicians say not enough has been done to promote it.

Now Worcestershire County Council say they are considering new signage to direct people coming off key M5 junctions towards the facility.

Critics say tourists coming from the railway stations, or driving into the city centre from various key locations, do not see any brown tourist signs signalling the location of the iconic site.

They want it to put on a pedestal alongside Worcester Cathedral and the cricket ground, by including the community hub on improved signage. The report, which has debated by the city council’s scrutiny committee, admits the signage is limited.

And some politicians believe many people who come to Worcester might not realise what The Hive is.

“One of the things we always seem to fall down with in Worcester is signage,” said Councillor David Tibbutt.

“I hope this can taken up with highways because if we don’t tell people where to actually go, they won’t.”

During a debate over the building’s merits, fellow politicians said the recent complaints over noise was not a bad problem to have.

Councillor Andy Roberts said: “This idea that young people are using the facilities there and causing a lot of noise, really, is a wonderful problem to have.

“When you actually look at other libraries across the country and see what is happening to them, this isn’t a bad position to be in,” he added.

The site, opened by the Queen in July last year after almost a decade’s worth of planning, is Europe’s first fully integrated university and public library.

Fresh talks are now going to take place with the centre’s management and County Hall over making sure The Hive appears on signs around the city.

David Thorpe, business transformation manager at the city council, said: “We are disappointed with the lack of signage and are now making the case for it.

“We are finding it difficult to be ‘masters of our own destiny’ as we are just one player in The Hive, but we know we need it improved.”

Laura Worsfold, The Hive’s business development manager, said: “Signage is under discussion to more clearly direct visitors from both the motorway and on roads into the city.”