Willesden Green Library

The original proposals for Willesden Green Library stemmed from local discussions on adopting the Public Libraries Act of 1850, a movement which gave local boroughs the right to establish free libraries for their respective communities by raising an additional tax from the local ratepayers.

In the 1891 poll of Willesden ratepayers, an overwhelming majority voted in favour of a new library. An architectural competition selected the winning design by Messrs Newman & Newman and three year later, on 18 July 1894, the new library was opened. It held just under 5,000 books, many of which had been donated by local residents.

By the turn of the century Willesden Green had become one of the fastest growing suburbs in London. As the population grew, so too did the demands on the small library and its services, now lending some 70,000 books a year.

Strong opposition from local residents and on both occasions succeeded in saving this historic building.

The new library design, which successfully incorporated the Victorian façade, was created by architect Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and has received numerous accolades for its innovative design, including the WAF Civic and Community Award (2016), the Brick Awards for Best Public Building (2016), the RIBA London Region Award (2017), and the Civic Trust Award (2017).

In its latest 2015 incarnation, renamed ‘The Library at Willesden Green’, the complex offers an IT learning area, art gallery, community exhibition space, performance space, as well as the Brent Museum and Brent Archives.

Today, this much-loved historic building composed of bright red brick and monochrome mock Tudor detailing as well as a romantic round turret, stands proudly at the heart of Willesden Green.

Willesden Green Library- circa 1894, Courtesy: Brent Archives

To meet this growing demand on its services, in 1907 the library was given a boost with a two wing extensions courtesy of a £3,000 donation from Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie -famous for construction of amongst other buildings, the Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Over the following 76 years, the library continued to serve the growing population from these modest premises, however, it was becoming clear that a more dramatic transformation was required to address the venue’s long-term problem of overcrowding.

In 1983 and again in 2010 Brent Council proposed the demolition of the old Willesden Green Library’s late Victorian façade to make way for a new Library building. Since its construction in 1894, this building has proved to be one of the most poignant symbols of our heritage and subject to many battles for its survival.