According to historian Malcolm Neesam, the bookseller Eli Hargrove was running a subscription library from before 1775, on Park Parade, opposite the Granby.

The first free library in Harrogate may have been a collection of 182 religious works given by Miss Mary Richmond of Hull to be housed and managed by Isabella Dunn of Westmoreland in 1828.

Some were honorary members, paying a rate of ten shillings and sixpence, while others paid over five pounds for a lifetime membership.

[6]: 48 Following an article in the Harrogate Advertiser in 1863 calling for a similar service, the Working Men's Club and Institute was introduced; this merged with the remnants of the mechanics institute, taking over its library and creating a substitute for its lecture programme in which short readings from books were accompanied by musical performances, which was well-received according to a favourable review in the Harrogate Advertiser.

The library was opened on 24 January 1906 by the Rt Rev G. W. Kennion, Bishop of Bath and Wells, as commemorated by a plaque on the site.

Unlike today's open-access model, this system required patrons to choose books by consulting a catalogue.

The library categories books mostly using Dewey Decimal Classification, with a modification in its local history section, where class numbers are prefixed with "Y" for Yorkshire, "H" for Harrogate, and "K" (formerly "KNA") for Knaresborough.

[5] In 2010, the North Yorkshire County Council allocated £3.4 million from the National Lottery fund to renovate the library including an expansion of over 250 square metres.