Already, thousands of books have been dumped in skips in the library basement and staff in various disciplines say they have not been given the opportunity to salvage them.

''This is a scandal. It's outrageous on a whole number of different levels,'' said Peter Slezak, an associate professor in the school of history and philosophy. ''Anyone that has anything to do with books is distressed at this. They are extremely good books.''

The cleanout has so upset some that library staff have rescued books destined for the bin. One former library assistant said he had taken more than 200 books. ''If the book's not borrowed in the last couple of years, they throw it out,'' he said. ''Most libraries see their function as an archive but these guys see it almost like a video store. After you've had the book five years, why keep it?''

Most shocking, he said, was the disposal of a collection of newspapers from the 1850s and 1860s.

''They're getting rid of books to make space for students to sit around, have lunch and plug their laptops in. Bizarrely, they've turned the library into a kind of a Starbucks,'' Professor Slezak said.