19 Nov 07

Oxford City Council has today rejected development plans put forward by the University to build a book depository at Osney Mead to house the Bodleian’s growing collections and to enable it to undertake a major redevelopment of the New Bodleian Library in Broad Street. The proposal underpinned the University’s strategy to maintain and develop the world-class status of its libraries in the 21st century.

The Council rejected the application in spite of its being given approval by the City’s own Strategic Development Control Committee. The refusal puts the Library in the difficult position of not being able to house the growth in its extensive collections, requiring three miles of new shelving every year. An ever increasing proportion of the Library’s budget will also be swallowed in keeping the collections in inaccessible rented storage. The Depository has fulfilled all the planning requirements for the site and the University has fully responded to and met the concerns of the bodies officially charged with safeguarding Oxford’s historic skyline and flood control in the area.

Dr Sarah Thomas, Bodley’s Librarian, said: ‘The City’s failure to approve the proposal will rapidly have serious consequences for our readers in the University and beyond, for the long-term future of the Bodleian as a world-class library and for the benefits such a library brings to the local community. We remain firmly committed to developing new facilities which will allow us to continue to provide scholars and visitors with what they come to Oxford’s libraries for – the best university collections in the world.’