Reimagining a university library

How do you modernize an iconic but aging building into an inviting place where students, faculty, and the public gather together to learn? In the first of a series of talks on new visions for library spaces, architect Jim Eyre of WilkinsonEyre, London, presented his plan for the successful renovation of the Weston Library at Oxford University. In 2006, his firm won a bid to redesign the Weston Library—formerly the New Bodleian. The priorities of the project were not only to safeguard collections, but to promote them: leading to wider understanding and public engagement. Plans for the revamped building included the addition of modernized research facilities, spaces for seminar rooms, exhibition galleries, and digitization studios. The goal was to provide a structure that invites all visitors to engage with the library’s materials.