Oxford University’s £78m scheme to transform the New Bodleian Library in Broad Street has been approved.

The decision to grant the huge renovation project both planning permission and listed building consent was taken on Monday by city council planning officers under delegated powers.

The decision clears the way for the New Bodleian to be opened up to the public for the first time.

A new glass frontage will face on to Broad Street, with a large entrance hall, exhibition rooms and a cafe created inside the redeveloped building, which will be known as the Weston Library.

The Bodleian will be able to put many of its treasures – such as copies of Magna Carta – on display in what is likely to become a major new tourist attraction.

The long-awaited project, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, will also create high quality storage for the library’s valuable special collections, while freeing up space for researchers.

Librarian Sarah Thomas said: ‘Securing planning permission is an important milestone in this exciting project.

“The architects, our Broad Street neighbours, library staff, and countless others have all collaborated in this visionary scheme. We’ve worked to ensure that the redeveloped building would appeal to academics and scholars but also would contribute to the city as an inviting space to share the Bodleian’s treasures, in dedicated exhibition galleries, with the general public.”

Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, the Grade II listed New Bodleian Library was completed in 1940, having been created as a huge ‘book fortress’.

The renovation will start next year following the removal of more than 3.5 million books.

The new Weston Library is expected to open in 2015.

Despite the challenge of having to relocate millions of books, the Bodleian said it was determined to provide “an uninterrupted service for its readers during the redevelopment.”

County Hall earlier said it would be working closely with the university to create “an exciting public space” between the new Weston Library and the Clarendon Building.

The space would be semi-pedestrianised with quality paving, although the idea of creating a public square in front of the Clarendon Building now looks to have been ruled out.

The New Bodleian houses the Bodleian’s special and rare collections including 10,000 medieval manuscripts.

In recent years the building’s deteriorating state has led to doubts about its ability to store collections of international importance, with concerns about fire risk, security protection and humidity.

About 175 staff at the New Bodleian will have to be relocated during the renovation.

The Garfield Weston Foundation has donated £25m towards the scheme, with Oxford University Press contributing a similar amount.

Julian Blackwell, the president of Blackwell’s Bookshop, donated £6m.

To accommodate the books now housed in the New Bodleian and to provide space for the library’s growing collections, the university is also constructing a book storage facility in Swindon. It will open later this year.