The site at 3935 Benning Road NE was previously home to a library designed by Clark T. Harmon as part of a D.C. Public Works Program initiative, a one-story brick-and-concrete building that opened in 1962.

The library had played an important role in the surrounding community since its inception.

An interim library served the Benning community while construction was underway.

[7] The new library was designed by the architecture firm Davis Brody Bond Aedas.

[1][8][9] The library features public art from artists based in D.C.'s Ward 7.