Oxford Westgate Library is the main

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

in the city of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is the largest public lending library in Oxfordshire, as the far larger

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

predominantly operates only as a

reference library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

. The library opened in its current location in 1973 as Oxford Central Library above shops in Westgate, Oxford. Over 500,000 items are available for loan. The library is run by

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. Established in 1889, it is an elected body responsible for most strategic local government ...

. Due to the redevelopment of the Westgate Centre, the library closed to the public on 27 February 2016. During the Westgate redevelopment it temporarily relocated to a smaller location in the neighbouring

Oxford Castle Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the late 12th or early 13th century and ...

complex. The library reopened at the Westgate on 18 December 2017 as Oxfordshire County Library, before changing to the current name of Oxford Westgate Library on 30 October 2023 to mark the 50th birthday of the library opening. The Oxfordshire Business & Intellectual Property Centre (BIPC) opened on the second floor of the library in 2021. The library holds books in these languages: English, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Pashto, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian and Urdu.

References

Libraries established in 1973 Central Library Public libraries in Oxfordshire {{Oxfordshire-struct-stub