Burley Branch Library, including front railings

Former library, now disused, built in 1926 by Gilbert Burdett Howcroft. Neo-Georgian style construction in mellow red brick with Portland stone and sandstone dressings, single-storey plus basement.

Setting and Plan

The building's front elevation faces east onto Cardigan Road. A modern building now stands on the site of a printer and lithographer's that originally adjoined the library's south wall. Buildings that once adjoined the north wall have been demolished. To the rear lies waste ground backing onto a railway line, which incorporates the remains of former coal drops.

Internally, the library has a tripartite plan with three rooms—junior room, lending library, and reading room—arranged in a row from south to north, with an entrance hall positioned centrally at the front.

Exterior

The building has painted cast-iron rainwater goods and multipaned metal casement windows designed to resemble Georgian sash windows.

The symmetrical front (east) elevation features brickwork laid in Flemish bond with Portland stone dressings. Of nine bays, it has a central bay projecting slightly forward to form the main entrance. The entrance comprises square-panel double doors set within a classical doorcase with Greek key decoration and an entablature supported by carved consoles. Above the doorcase, a large stone bears a carved inscription reading 'BURLEY BRANCH'. The bay is crowned by an Art Deco style shallow pediment inscribed 'CITY OF LEEDS/ PUBLIC LIBRARIES'. Small square metal casement windows flanking the entrance incorporate a central cross design surrounded by margin lights.

The three outer bays on each side have windows with carved surrounds featuring wave decoration to the sills and shallow flat hoods supported on carved consoles. The three windows to the left light the junior room, whilst those to the right light the reading room. Above the windows runs a narrow projecting band beneath a larger eaves cornice. The roof, hidden from view by a parapet with flat copings, incorporates roof lanterns over the flat-roofed sections of the entrance hall, junior room, and reading room, plus a barrel-vaulted roof and lantern over the central lending library.

Painted cast-iron railings project from each side of the entrance, incorporating two curved sections before continuing across the elevation in front of two large basement wells. The railings surmount a sandstone plinth and feature narrow panels with pierced guilloche-style detailing. The basement, set below a plinth-like band, has a series of window openings (three now fitted with inserted vent covers) aligned with those above.

The rear (west) elevation is laid in irregular Flemish bond and incorporates a shaped gable to the centre belonging to the lending library. Part of the lending library's barrel-vaulted roof with its full-length roof lantern is just visible. The lending library is lit by a large multipaned window, with a smaller version lighting the reading room to the left. The junior room is set back to the right and lit by a window matching that of the reading room, plus an additional window to its left lighting the basement stair. All windows have plain sandstone lintels and brick sills. At basement level, a series of bricked-up windows (most survive internally) and an access door to the south-west corner are visible.

The building's north wall is hidden by the remaining brick skin of a demolished building.

Interior

The ground floor has high ceilings of nearly double-height proportions throughout. Parquet floors, moulded cornicing, and cast-iron radiators feature throughout. Interior woodwork is oak, including wall panelling and built-in bookcases lining the walls. Doors are a mixture of solid six-panel and glazed doors with margin lights.

Entrance Vestibule and Hall

An entrance vestibule with a blue and pink tesserae floor incorporating a built-in recess for a carpet mat and glazed double doors with margin lights leads into a long entrance hall aligned north-south. Oak pillars stand at the four corners of the space, and wall panelling up to head height incorporates an architrave surrounding the main entrance. The entrance hall is top-lit by a large roof lantern. Glazed double doors at each end, matching those of the vestibule, lead to the reading room (north) and junior room (south); lettering above the north doors reads 'READING ROOM.' and above the south doors reads 'JUNIOR ROOM.'.

Centred on the entrance hall's wide west wall is a panelled oak enquiries kiosk of tripartite design. A canted-bay central section features a leaded and stained-glass window incorporating a hatch with lettering reading 'ENQUIRIES', flanked by glazed display cabinets lettered 'NEW BOOKS'. A large clock case (clock removed) surmounts the canted bay. Doors with glazed upper panels on each side of the kiosk lead to the lending library and issuing desk behind; the right door has lettering above reading 'IN', the left 'OUT'. The upper halves of the entrance hall's three internal walls are glazed with margin lights matching those of the doors below. A large plaque recording the funding and opening of the library is affixed to the east wall left of the main entrance.

Junior Room

The junior room, smaller than the other two spaces, has a coffered ceiling with patterned ventilators; the roof lantern has been covered over internally. Bookcases and panelling line the walls up to head height (window sill level), interspersed with sections of buff-coloured glazed tiling and pink, blue, yellow, black, and white tesserae, with radiators set in front.

Three square oak pillars with carved capitals incorporating relief roundel decoration and carved shafts and bases separate the junior room from the lending library. It is believed that originally partly-glazed panelled screens filled the openings between the pillars.

Lending Library

The lending library is a large space with a 20-foot high barrel-vaulted ceiling incorporating patterned ventilators and a wide central glazed section running the full length of the ceiling, with a roof lantern above (just visible through the glazing).

Centred at the east end is a box-shaped issuing desk retaining its original drawers, cupboards, and shelving. The desk is flanked by 'in' and 'out' doorways leading to the entrance hall; both doors have adjacent sections of oak panelling and posts forming baffles that create queuing areas for book returns and issues.

The west end has built-in bookcases and a doorway to the south-west corner with a six-panel door adorned with lettering reading 'PRIVATE', accessing the basement stair.

The north wall features square oak pillars matching those on the south side, but here the spaces between the piers are filled with original panelled screens incorporating built-in shelving and large glazed upper sections with margin lights. A six-panel door to the north-west corner lettered 'PRIVATE' leads through to the reading room.

Reading Room

The reading room is of similar dimensions to the lending library but styled like the junior room, with a coffered ceiling (the roof lantern covered over internally). Wall panelling, built-in bookcases, and shelving survive on the south and west walls, along with glazed tiling and tesserae behind two cast-iron radiators, but panelling and tiling have been removed from the north and east walls. It is understood that the bookcase shelving from these two walls survives in the basement.

Basement

The basement stair, located off the lending library, has a timber balustrade and painted-metal stick balusters, leading down to a large basement containing a series of office, staff, storage, and service rooms, plus a sink washing area, toilet, and fire exit. The basement has concrete flooring and retains original built-in cupboards in two rooms on the east side, two-panel doors, and simple door architraves. Later pipework has been inserted in some rooms.

The sink washing area has a blue and pink glazed-tile and tesserae dado. One of the east-side rooms also has a glazed-tile and tesserae dado in the same style (partly damaged and painted over). The far north section of the basement, identified on its access door as a discard store, has a sloping earth floor and concrete columns. It contains a later electricity substation that is not of special interest.