Hove, immediately west of the fashionable resort of Brighton, grew rapidly during the Victorian era: there were a few hundred residents in the 1830s, about 9,000 by 1861, and more than 36,000 by 1901.

[5] Rapid housing development was matched by a generous provision of public buildings: schools, dispensaries, hospitals, churches and a town hall.

By the following month there was enough stock for the library to be opened, initially as a reading room only and with a caretaker rather than a full-time librarian (one was appointed in January 1892 though).

[2] As well as a wide range of books and periodicals, such as complete sets of Punch, the Encyclopædia Britannica and the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, collectors of curiosities and artworks such as Constantine Alexander Ionides had lent or donated various items such as reproductions of works by Michelangelo and Raphael, a disembowelling knife, a Japanese executioner's sword and a set of assegai spears.

By 1900 the hired premises were no longer suitable because of overcrowding and the sheer weight of books, and the borough council formed a committee to investigate whether a permanent library should be built.

The design submitted by Percy Robinson and W. Alban Jones of Leeds was the winner, and the plans were signed off by the council in October 1906.

[3] After initial works started in February 1907, the foundation stone was laid on 10 June 1907 by the Mayor of Hove, Alderman Bruce Morison.

[8] Meanwhile, wealthy residents continued to donate thousands of volumes—including many rarities—to the library,[7] along with various artworks and curiosities (all of which were moved to the new Hove Museum at nearby Brooker Hall when that opened in 1927).

[8] It was used both for the display of artworks and as a storage and viewing facility for deeds and manorial rolls relating to Sussex parishes.

[12] Below this, centrally placed, is an open pediment with elaborate carvings and a dentil cornice, which continues across the width of the façade below the parapet.

At ground-floor level, flanking the Ionic-columned recessed entrance, there are groups of three tall straight-headed windows separated by pilasters and set below prominent entablatures with egg-and-dart moulding and decorative capitals in the form of cherubs' heads.

[14][12] At first-floor level are groups of three round windows with similarly elaborate moulded decoration consisting of garlands and swags.