Weston Library at 10

Weston at 10

Celebrate 10 years since the Weston Library reopened to the public on 21 March 2015.

Celebrating 10 years

We are celebrating 10 years since the Weston Library reopened to the public on 21 March 2015.

The project transformed the Giles Gilbert Scott Grade II listed building, formerly known as the New Bodleian, into a twenty-first century library space.

The new library combined state-of-the-art facilities for researchers, providing access to our world-class special collections, with an accessible public space to explore these treasures in our exhibition and event spaces.

Brief history of the Weston Library

The Weston Library is on the site of the New Bodleian Library. It still retains the facade of this Giles Gilbert Scott-designed building. The original building was constructed to create more storage for the library's ever-expanding collections. Finished in 1940, it provided eleven storeys of storage, as well as reading rooms and office spaces.

A tunnel connected the building to the Bodleian Old Library with a conveyor belt used to transport items between the two buildings.

As construction was completed during the Second World War, the building was originally used for war purposes – including by the Admiralty Intelligence – before being handed back to the library. It was officially opened by King George VI in 1946.

During the latter stages of the twentieth century, the library's storage facilities were deemed not fit for purpose. After six years of planning, in 2011 building works began to totally reimagine the building according to the vision proposed by the architects WilkinsonEyre. New storage, readings rooms and staff spaces were created. A large entrance was opened on Broad Street and for the first time the ground floor opened to the public with exhibition spaces, a lecture theatre, a cafe and shop.