ONE of the best known living poets today described the newly rebuilt Enfield Town library as “fantastic.”

Sir Andrew Motion, who was poet laureate from 1999 to 2009, officially opened the building this morning under his new guise as Chair of the Museums, Libraries and Archives council.

In a speech as part of the opening ceremony, Sir Andrew described how as an English lecturer at Hull University during the 1970s, which was then headed by poet Philip Larkin, libraries were often characterised by “shushing and fining”.

But he said that Enfield Town library, opened on Monday after an 18 month £5m redesign and renovation, encompassed the best of the past, present and future.

He said: “This is fantastic, it does what good modern libraries ought to do. It has moved a long way from old stuffy libraries, but kept its traditional values. You can immediately see there are enough books and quiet corners in the place, but you don’t have to speak in whispers. Libraries give you the possibility to find out things you don’t know – that is what libraries were about for me when I was young.”

He added: “My parents were very un-bookish. My father was a brewer and used to say he had not read half a book in his life. I was completely uncultured and it was a brilliant English teacher, Peter Way, at Radley College, who walked straight into my head and turned the lights on. Libraries, galleries and museums were opened up. ”

Council Leader Mike Rye was presented with a golden key by Sir Andrew, in memory of a similar key presented at the opening of the original library building in 1912 to the Chairman of the Library Committee, Henry Dugdale Sykes.

He said: “Libraries are essential for motivating young people. Councils are going around making cuts to library hours but the savings you achieve are relatively small – its about the same as losing four members of staff.”

Under the refurbishment, the entrance of the building, which dates back to 1912, has been moved from the rear to face the street.

Its Edwardian façade has been cleaned and its original windows refurbished, with a red brick 1960s extension pulled down and a glass and steel frontage erected to look out over the Green.

It now houses 60 computers, with 11,000 non fiction and 7,000 fiction books in the first floor adults section, plus extra children’s facilities on the ground floor.

The library is open seven days a week, from 9.30am in the morning (closing times vary). Sunday opening is from 12pm to 4pm.