More than 6m items from 150 London libraries will be available to residents, as Kingston becomes the 14th member of the London Libraries Consortium.

The consortium will begin in March, with the new system going live in October 2011.

Richmond and Wandsworth are also consortium members, making it easy for Kingston library users to cross borders and use services freely.

Grace McElwee, strategic manager of library and heritage services, said: "As a small borough with seven libraries, it will be a great benefit to our users to have access to a wider range and quantity of stock, through the shared catalogue."

Kingston will modernise by improving online services, such as renewing and reserving books, and searching the catalogue from home.

It will also introduce electronic ordering, which will mean books will get to branches quicker.

Library staff will also benefit as the consortium will allow frontline employees to work with peers across London.