Reading, with fringes of Southcote first choice (9)
I believe the answer is:
selection
'first choice' is the definition.
'reading with fringes of southcote' is the wordplay.
'reading' becomes 'lection' (archaic term for the act of reading).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'fringes of' means to remove the middle letters.
'southcote' with its middle taken out is 'se'.
'lection' after 'se' is 'SELECTION'.
(Other definitions for selection that I've seen before include "Act of choosing" , "Choice, pick" , "Horse tipped for betting" .)