Grumpy Old Men star and acclaimed writer and comedian Arthur Smith is coming to Lancaster to play his first ever show in a library.

The Bermondsey-born funnyman is the latest coup pulled off by Lancaster Music Library's Get It Loud In Libraries campaign organisers for their more recent offshoot, Laugh Out Loud in Libraries.

They announced this week that the Have I Got News For You regular will perform an "exclusive comedy showcase" there on February 16.

This show follows the first Laugh Out Loud in Libraries gig in October, a sell-out featuring rising comics Lucy Porter and Justin Edwards.

Arthur Smith has been a star of the stand-up circuit since the 1980s.

His play, An Evening with Gary Lineker, was nominated for an Olivier Award and made into a TV film. He has played all over the country and is a regular at the Edinburgh Festival.

In 2005, he turned down a lifetime achievement award from the Perrier Award organisers, reportedly saying: "Comedians rather dislike the Perrier Awards and the public aren't interested. Basically, they wanted to tell me I was old and cool. Well, I know that already, and anyway, my ego is bloated enough."

The gig came about as a direct result of the Lucy Porter gig, after the comedienne enjoyed herself so much, she immediately began to work out which friends she could get to support the Laugh Out Loud drive.

Stewart Parsons, organiser of Lancaster Library's Get It Loud In Libraries drive, said: "She was going through her phone and suggesting this person and that person and she just suddenly said: 'What about Arthur Smith?'

"She was suggesting people who might take the project forward. She really loved it here - a lot of people do. I think they find it a lovely refreshing change."

When they played the library in June this year, Thrills frontman Conor Deasy told the Lancashire Evening Post that the band had chosen the venue personally as it stood out so much from the rest.

Arthur Smith seems to feel the same, as he arranged this gig personally rather than through an agent. Stewart said: "He's a very funny man who has any audience in stitches. This will be his first show in a library."

The Get It Loud in Libraries team at Lancaster have built a reputation for staging shows of surprising quality with an unerring eye for spotting up-and-coming acts.

Coups so far have included an intimate show by Irish indie warblers, The Thrills, whose 2003 debut album So Much for the City hit Number Three, while their follow-up, Let's Bottle Bohemia, went to Number Nine in 2004.

In May, they got the then little-known Natasha Khan, AKA Bat For Lashes, only to see her make the shortlist for the prestigious Mercury Prize in September. And Adele, who played there in January is now up for a BRIT award.

BBC's Newsround cameras turned up to a gig by Brooklyn-based grungers Tiny Masters Of Today who, despite a combined age of just 12, have won praise from stars such as David Bowie and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The Get It Loud campaign has spread to other libraries but Lancaster was where it began. They have won several awards including the 2007 Love Libraries Award for their efforts.

And they have just landed a £600,000 National Lottery windfall, partly thanks to Get It Loud, which will fund facilities including a performance space, a heritage space and a sanctuary space. As Stewart said, "It's really exciting."

He added: "It's just about trusting your ears. But if you love music, it's part of your job as a music librarian to be able to smell out something exciting and new. I think librarians are in a very privileged position."

Tickets for the Arthur Smith show on February 16 go on sale on December 21, priced £11. Call 01524 580712 or buy online at www.seetickets.com