Bethnal Green Library

Bethnal Green Library

Public library. Grade II listed.

The building represents an unusually intact inter-war London library, created in 1921–1922 through the conversion by borough architect A.E. Darby of the 1896 former Bethnal House Asylum. It was opened to the public on 13 October 1922 by the Mayor, Councillor J.J. Vaughan, at a cost of £36,000. The construction was undertaken by Messrs. Patman and Fotheringham, with furniture supplied by G.W. Hammer & Co.

The library's exterior displays Late Victorian Classical architecture. The principal 15-bay, two-storey facade is constructed of red brick and yellow stock brick, with gauged brick detailing and terra cotta ornament. It features gauged brick flat arches with keyblocks and Ionic pilasters of rubbed brick defining the first-floor bays. The central advanced 2-storey frontispiece contains a segmental pediment, Ionic pilasters flanking a central arched window at first-floor level, and a rusticated ground floor with paired terra cotta pilasters beneath "PUBLIC LIBRARY" lettering over the main door. The north return elevation has a 2-storey semi-elliptical bay entirely of rubbed brick, with rustication, Ionic pilasters, and a balustrade to the first floor. This joins the main wall via a re-entrant oriel, followed by a secondary entrance bay that is slightly advanced with quoins and a rusticated ground floor. The rear elevation, similarly detailed, connects to other buildings not included in the listing. The roof comprises hipped tiling over the front range with a partly glazed ceiling and raised ridge lantern over the rear range. Wooden sash windows are throughout.

The interior retains the original 1922 library plan form and high-quality Classical design in the mid-18th century Adam-inspired style. The entrance hall is lined with exceptional Classical panelling featuring Ionic pilasters and pedimented doorcases, and displays a plaque commemorating the October 1922 opening. This hall connects to two principal reading rooms at the front: the former Newspaper and Magazine Reading Room to the south and the Juveniles Reading Room to the north, both retaining their beamed ceilings with delicate Adam-style plaster and pedimented doorcases.

The main lending library occupies the rear, entered through curved wickets and barriers ornamented with Ionic pilasters and leaded panes, which are attached to the main counters. Original perimeter shelving survives, though the original radiating free-standing shelves have been replaced. The ceiling has a segmental profile with an oculus at the centre beneath large panels of 25 window panes, the central pane featuring a circular fanlight, and the central row containing oculi and Classical plaster swags at the edge. Four plaster medallions in a curved niche behind a colonnade commemorate an interesting choice of cultural heroes: Richard Wagner, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, and William Morris.

To the north of this space are staff rooms featuring a wide metal baluster stair and a librarian's room with a fireplace and similar plaster ceiling. The first-floor Lecture Hall likewise features a similar ceiling and a small stage flanked by Ionic pilasters bearing the borough badge. The former Reference Room to the south has perimeter shelving, pedimented door cases, and matching plaster ceiling. A substantial area of lavatories is finished with tiling and glazed partitions. At the head of the rear stairs stands a Venetian window featuring a War Memorial of stained glass representing 'Motherhood', 'Peace', and 'Manhood'.

The Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green had not adopted the Public Library Act until 1913. The borough architect and surveyor A.E. Darby prepared plans for a new library in 1915, but the intervention of the First World War and the subsequent prohibitive rise in building costs led instead to the construction of a temporary institution in 1919. When the decision was made to undertake a permanent library, the borough purchased part of the Bethnal House Asylum Estate, specifically the former male wing built in 1896. Darby designed the conversion of this substantially larger facility to accommodate an Adult Lending Library, Reference Library, Children's Library, Lecture Hall, and Newsroom. The design represents an outstanding survival of inter-war library architecture with its original plan form, furnishings, and high-quality decorative interiors intact.