The new-look Oxhey Library was officially opened this afternoon after an extensive modernisation programme.

The venue, in Bridlington Road, benefited from a £1.4 million refurbishment to offer a more spacious, technologically advanced and energy-efficient service.

Residents and library users helped to shape the plans during public consultation in the early part of 2008. Among the new features of the building is a community room which can be booked by local people, a fully-equipped learning suite, a children's library with its own computers and designated areas for under-fives and teenagers.

County Councillor Keith Emsall, executive member for culture, said: “The library has been completely transformed into a building that has already taken its place at the heart of the local community after nearly a year of building work.”

The venue is already hosting an array of community and educational events, including computer courses, youth advice sessions, book groups, a job club for the unemployed and homework club for school children.

The venue will play host this evening to a performance by comic poet John Hegley, a regular at the Edinburgh Festival. His performance will begin at 7.15pm.