SINCE books were first kept on the site in the early 12th century, the Bodleian Library in Oxford has stood as a symbol of British learning. Now a radical plan to turn the university library, a national treasure house, into a pay-as-you-enter visitor centre is provoking a fierce war of words.

The so-called theme-park proposal, described by its opponents as "sacrilegious", has been put forward by library management itself. If approved, it would mean a change to the nature of the historic Old Quad at the heart of the library. The highly visible building will, critics fear, damage the reputation of the university by becoming a mere commercial sideshow.

Opposition to the scheme from Oxford's town and gown already echoes the ferocity of last year's long-running feud about the fundamental changes made to the Great Court in the centre of London's British Museum. It also threatens to split the heritage community in two, as the impoverished Bodleian struggles to make ends meet.

The Oxford courtyard, properly known as the Old Schools Quadrangle, is the familiar subject of thousands of paintings and postcards and is used as a backdrop in films and in television advertisements and dramas. Traditionally, it has been freely used as a thoroughfare by students, tourists and the people of Oxford, but a suggested new side entrance for paying visitors would mean the closure of all other points of access between 10am and 6pm. It would also mean cutting a new doorway right through the library's Great Gate, which dates to 1610.

Dissenting staff members have argued the plan is nothing but commercial vandalism. One insider has attacked his employers for disregarding the founding principles of the library, which was established for the use of everyone. Representations have been made to the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Colin Lucas, and this weekend he is believed to be considering calling on the library to hold back its plans.

But the proposed building work has been drawn up for scrutiny by the local planning authority and could eventually be funded by a Lottery grant. The university says it hopes that its visitor programme would reduce noise and congestion, as well as boosting library funds. It has also said it is willing to look at a permit system to allow some residents to use the quad without paying a fee. "The University believes it is important local residents can continue to enjoy free access to the historic spaces of the Bodleian," a spokeswoman said. "Rather than simply closing the gates to all tourists, we are taking a great deal of care to find a proposal which balances the operational needs of a working library with efforts to provide well-managed access to an important heritage site."

The Bodleian is a deposit - a library which is legally entitled to free copies of all books printed in Britain. Maria Hamilton, from nearby Abingdon, has compared the library authority's activities with those of the Taliban in Afghanistan. "Even the Taliban did not go so far as to ask for money to carry out their vandalism of historic artefacts", she argues in the Oxford Times. John Goddard, the chair of the City's planning committee, has voiced his strong disapproval of the plan two. "This is desecration. I find it hard to believe that this is a good idea," he said. "I don't see why we need to knock a hole in this great building."

Jeanine Alton, who works as a tour guide at the Bodleian, has also questioned the financial assumptions of the scheme. She argues that the cost of hiring staff to handle the customers will eat into the projected cash benefits. Some academics, however, are more sympathetic to the Bodleian's plight. Mark Philip, a politics don at Oriel College, said he could see why the library had considered a commercial venture. "Without any other visible means of income for the library, what else can they do?"

This weekend, facing a campaign of protest, the university has agreed to go into consultation with planning officers and to refine its proposals. "The University is conscious of the comments raised in the ongoing consultation process, which we would hope to reflect in subsequent planning applications," a spokeswoman said.

This vandalism, apart from anything else, gives the lie to OUP's trumpeted £30 million Bodley 'donation' of July 1999 (see The Times 17/7/99 and Oxford Times 30/3/01). - A. M.

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