Workmen have started building an £11m University library next to Oxford's Ashmolean Museum.

Although the Sackler Library will initially be solely for the use of University staff and students, it is planned as part of a wider project which will feature some public access.

The five-storey building, named in honour of the benefactors who made it possible, has also been designed to complement the famous museum next door.

Designed by architect Robert Adam, it will be in a neo-classical rotunda style - the same style also used to design the city's Sheldonian Theatre and the Radcliffe Camera.

University spokesman Nicky Old said: "The first stage of the project is mainly for the University but the wider project will involve extending access to the public and the city at large."

The Sackler Library has been named in honour of The Dr Mortimer & Theresa Sackler Foundation.

The University of Oxford plans to use the building to integrate six of its existing specialities, concentrating on The Ancient World, as well as Western and Eastern Art.

The project as a whole will also include purpose-built centres for Classics, Byzantine Studies and Modern Greek, as well as Islamic Art and Archaeology.

There will also be a reception and teaching suite for school parties and an information area with video and computer displays.

The existing Cast Gallery will also be extended, with a new atrium and public gallery created.

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