OXFORD’S most famous library will reopen one of its main buildings on Monday after a £78m facelift which saw even the chairs being overhauled.

The Weston Library, formerly the New Bodleian in Broad Street, will reopen after being closed for three years for refurbishment.

And the ground floor will feature a new glass frontage facing Broad Street, with a large entrance hall, exhibition rooms and public cafe.

The exhibition spaces will allow the Bodleian to put its many treasures – such as copies of the Magna Carta and Jane Austen’s original manuscripts – on display.

Our top stories

Better storage for more valuable collections is also included in the long-awaited building, as well as new space for researchers.

It will reopen in phases as an estimated one million books from the Oxford University library are moved from storage in Swindon.

The first readers will be able to go inside from Monday, with the public being allowed in March next year.

The facility will be fully operational by next summer and visitors will be perched on the new chairs, the third re-design in its 400-year history.

Librarian Richard Ovenden said: “We have only redesigned the chair twice before, once in the 18th century and then again in 1936.

“You can still look at the paperwork from both of those times and they have served us very well over the years.

“This time because we had lots of new space we decided that it would be a fantastic opportunity to commission a new chair.”

The winning design was chosen from 90 submissions and won by Jay Osgerby OBE, who grew up in Witney and Edward Barber OBE of London design studio Barber Osgerby.

They had designed the Olympic Torch for the 2012 London games.

Mr Ovenden said: “In his presentation Jay Osgerby told the judges a year ago that his mother had been a reader in the Bodley and he had consulted her about the type of chair needed for a research library.

“He also had a really good sense of the aesthetics of the building and of the quality required - this is a chair that we hope will still be used in 200 years’ time. It needs a mixture of comfort and durability, that was very important to us.’’ After designs were produced, he said, rigorous tests were carried out by the manufacturer and students and staff were also consulted on its merits. About 150 have been produced so far, at £500 each and donors can have chairs named after them.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.