THIS village library has undergone a magical transformation.

Children’s illustrator and Winnie the Witch creator Korky Paul officially reopened Kennington Library after a £6,000 upgrade.

The Friends of Kennington Library raised the money to put in colourful new carpets, a new counter and a new shelving arrangement.

More than 80 children went to Saturday’s opening ceremony with parents and other villagers to admire the library’s first revamp in 25 years.

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North Oxford resident Mr Paul, who is president for life of the Friends’ group, said: “In this day and age where libraries are closing, the opening of a refurbished Kennington Library was a great thing.

“Kennington is a great community, and now they have a proper, beautiful library.”

Villagers contributed to the cost of the refurbishment by “sponsoring” a square of carpet each for £5, which also automatically entered them into a raffle.

The winner of an original Winnie the Witch drawing, drawn out at random by Mr Paul, was library volunteer Kath Suckling.

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Siddique Rafaqat, 10, and his sister Khadeejah, eight, join in the fun.

Oxford Times contributor Helen Peacocke made Mr Paul a Winnie the Witch cake and the recently formed Kennington Wind Band provided a musical soundtrack for the occasion.

The Friends of Kennington Library financed the revamp through donations, securing £1,000 from Kennington’s Small World Nursery, who visit the library for story time once a week, and £1,000 from nearby Radley College.

Oxfordshire county councillor for Kennington Bob Johnston donated £1,500 from his Big Society fund – a small pot of money made available for each councillor to allocate – while his council provided the labour for the revamp free of charge between February 16 and 20.

The Friends group relies on volunteers to help run the library and said they hoped the makeover would encourage volunteers to stay longer and see more children using the facility.

Chairwoman Sylvia Vetta said: “The way you keep volunteers is making it somewhere pleasant to go, and we’ve done that.

“It is all light and airy and bright. It might be a small library but it doesn’t feel small now.”

A counter from the 1980s had been “too big” and has been replaced by a smaller one, while two new shelves have been put up for extra books. The Friends raise £3,500 a year to employ parttime staff for four-and-a-half hours a week and rely on volunteers to work seven-and-ahalf hours a week.

Ms Vetta added: “We’re not a rich village but we’re a generous village.”