The Carnegie Library

The Carnegie Library is a public library with a linked former librarian's house, built between 1903 and 1905. It was designed by the architectural firm Barrowcliff and Allcock of Loughborough. The building is constructed of red brick with terracotta dressings and a slate roof with various tall stacks.

The library itself displays an exuberant Baroque style at its front, becoming plainer towards the rear. The linked librarian's house, facing Packe Street, is executed in Vernacular Revival style. The main range fronts the street, with an office to the rear and the house connected by a corridor.

The most striking architectural feature is the main range's composition: a high single-storey structure with a square footprint that transitions to an octagon, surmounted by an octagonal pyramidal roof. This is crowned by a large lantern with an ogee lead-covered dome and finial. The front elevation is exceptionally elaborate, dominated by a large central window surrounded by an aedicule frontispiece. Ornamental turrets with open Agra-like lanterns sit at the corners above the triangular section formed by the change to octagonal geometry. The terracotta decoration throughout was provided by Hathernware, the well-known local firm. The rear ranges are plainer, featuring leaded-light, casement and sash windows.

The librarian's house has a gabled front with a canted bay to the left, topped with a leaded ogee pentice roof. A door sits to the right beneath a flat hood, with windows above. Two additional gables face the yard to the left. The house now has UPVC windows in original openings.

The interior of the main library space survives unaltered and is particularly fine. Ionic half-columns support the corner openings, while an octagonal domed ceiling with plasterwork ribs dominates the space. Thermal windows contain Art Nouveau style coloured glass, and a huge central octagonal skylight with matching glass provides dramatic illumination. The staircase hall retains its original simple Art Nouveau iron balustrade and coloured glass window in the same style. The former reference library, now used as staff offices, remains unaltered with its original vaulted ceiling and Art Nouveau detailed glass. The original lending library has been divided horizontally but preserves its original ceiling. The librarian's house, now used for storage, is connected via corridor and retains its original staircase, fireplaces, doors and other fittings.

The library was built following a substantial financial contribution from the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who at that time was funding the construction of numerous libraries throughout Britain. The original library in Loughborough, which had opened in 1886, had become completely inadequate, prompting the construction of this replacement.

In the mid-1960s a large library extension was added to the main range. This work involved demolition of most of the original porch at the side, but the impact on the rest of the building was kept to a minimum. The original walls and even a window survive, now covered over within present cupboards in the link corridor.