Following the £61million renovation of Oxford’s oldest museum, the Ashmolean, including the renovation of internal Portland limestone work by London masons Putney & Wood, Oxford University has now gained planning permission for a £78million restoration of its New Bodleian Library.

The work on Giles Gilbert Scott’s “book fortress”, as the Bodleian has been described, will be carried out to Wilkinson Eyre designs and will open up the library to the public

The design will create exhibition spaces, library storage and research facilities. The project is scheduled to complete in 2014/15. It should start next year once its 3.5million books have been temporarily removed.

A contractor has yet to be appointed.