History of Central Library

Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald laid the foundation stone of the building on 6 May 1930 . Four years later the library was officially opened on 17 July 1934 , by King George V.
For a number of reasons, including the outbreak of World War I, there was no further progress on a new building until 1926, when a competition was held for the design of an extension to the Town Hall, together with a new library, which was won by E. Vincent Harris (1876-1971), a well-respected municipal architect. Harris’s work has been described by the noted architectural historian John Archer as revealing ‘a creative and original modern spirit’. He worked very closely with Stanley Jast and Charles Nowell, the Chief Librarians, on the unusual design of the building, which was strongly influenced by visits to American libraries.