Writing for her latest Guardian column on the 4th January, Dr Germaine Greer complains that her “favourite library is being transformed into a beacon of naffness”.

This apparent transformation is the result of the construction, last September, of 14 bollards outside the entrance to Cambridge University Library, a decision branded by Dr Greer as “humiliatingly naff”.

The bronze sculptures, which are arranged as stacks of books in three different designs, were created by local sculptor Harry Gray and funded by a donation from the Arcadia Fund.

The books that make up the four inner columns can be rotated to reveal the title of the artwork as ‘Ex Libris’, which Dr Greer dismisses as merely offering “free advertising in perpetuity” to the “best-known purveyors of electronic library resources”.

When contacted by Varsity, Mr Gray declined to comment specifically on Dr Greer’s article, but stated that his aim in creating the sculptures was twofold; firstly, they were designed to serve the practical purpose of preventing cars parking outside the library entrance.

However Gray also hopes that they can be viewed as a “serious and interactive piece of art”. When the sculptures were revealed last year, University Librarian Anne Jarvis stated that she hoped they would encourage visitors to view the building in a whole new light.

Despite attracting Greer’s disapproval, the construction seems to have achieved the support of at least one of Cambridge’s academics, with Professor Mary Beard commenting in her blog, ‘It’s A Don’s Life’, that she would award “full marks... to the new University Librarian for sponsoring this addition to the artistic environment of the University.”

This view seems to be shared by a number of Cambridge students, with one Girton second year saying that the piles of books are “actually quite beautiful at night when they are all lit up”, whilst a Downing first year expressed surprise that Greer considered the sculptures intrusive enough to warrant an article: “they seem rather innocuous to me”.

Gray himself, who took over a year to complete the bollards, welcomes the publicity for his artwork: “If they didn’t create debate, I’d be a bit concerned”.