The Weston Library is part of the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

, the main research library of the University of Oxford, reopened within the former New Bodleian Library building on the corner of Broad Street and Parks Road in central Oxford, England.

History

From 1937 to 1940, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott worked on the New Bodleian Library, in Broad Street, Oxford. It is not generally considered his finest work. Needing to provide storage for millions of books without building higher than the surrounding structures, Scott devised a construction going deep into the earth, behind two elevations no higher than those around them. His biographer A. S. G. Butler commented, "In an attempt to be polite to these – which vary from

late Gothic International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by t ...

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

Tudor – Scott produced a not very impressive neo-Jacobean design". A later biographer, Gavin Stamp, praises the considerable technical achievement of keeping the building low in scale by building underground, but agrees that aesthetically the building is not among Scott's most successful designs. Nikolaus Pevsner dismisses it as "neither one thing nor the other". The building was constructed of Bladon stone with Clipsham dressings and was opened by King George VI. The

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

donated 60% of the £1 million cost for the new library building. It included administrative and reading rooms, together with an 11-storey bookstack, three of which are underground. This was connected with the original Bodleian Library underground by a conveyor belt system for books. It is still possible to walk underground between the Radcliffe Camera and the new library building. In the early 21st century, the building was rebuilt internally to the design of WilkinsonEyre behind its original façade to provide improved storage facilities for rare and fragile material, as well as better facilities for readers and visitors. It reopened to readers as the Weston Library on 21 March 2015. Richard Ovenden (

Bodley's Librarian The head of the Bodleian Library, the main library at the University of Oxford, is known as Bodley's Librarian: Sir Thomas Bodley, as founder, gave his name to both the institution and the position. Although there had been a university library at ...

) awarded the Bodley Medal to Professor Stephen Hawking and Sir David Attenborough as part of the official opening ceremony. The transformed library has been generally well-received, being described as a "hey presto moment for the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

" by '' The Independent'' newspaper. In July 2016, the building was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture.

Gallery

File:Weston Library Exterior by John Cairns 20.3.15-67.jpg, The Weston Library main entrance on Broad Street File:Weston Library Opening by John Cairns 20.3.15-139.jpg, Richard Ovenden, Professor Stephen Hawking and Sir David Attenborough at the official opening of the Weston Library in 2015 File:Weston Library Blackwell Hall by John Cairns 6.7.15-61.jpg, The Blackwell Hall inside the library File:Weston Library exterior by John Cairns 6.7.15-3.jpg, External view of the gift shop File:Weston Library Blackwell Hall cafe by John Cairns 6.7.15-123.jpg, View of the cafe

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston Library 2015 establishments in England Libraries established in 2015 Library buildings completed in 1940 Libraries of the University of Oxford Bodleian Library

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links