The club was founded to ensure the up-to-date provision of newspapers and pamphlets, and to create a library for the use of the merchants and professional men in the city.

The founders of the club produced a prospectus entitled Outlines of a Plan for a Library and Newsroom, which proposed "to procure a regular supply of newspapers, both town and country, all the periodical publications of any value, and all the pamphlets that have reference to subjects of local or general polity or commerce".

The founder subscribers commissioned the local architect John Foster Sr to design a building for them in Church Street.

[1] The early members of the club included "entrepreneurs, slavery-abolitionists, free-thinkers, and political radicals, who regarded themselves as the commercial and intellectual champions of Liverpool".

[1][4] The members of the Liverpool club arranged for express riders, messengers, and the regular coaches serving the city, to bring them all the latest news, information, and ideas.

[1][4] In the 1920s, the Corporation of Liverpool decided to widen Church Street to accommodate a new tram system, and this involved the demolition of the club's building.

Designed by Harold Dod, its architectural style is described as "Chaste American classicism, with a strong French accent".

In the Library are three large paintings by Edward Halliday depicting events in Greek mythology involving Athena.

[1] The library holds a yearly Writer-in-Residence competition with a £1,000 prize, the 2012 recipient was 17-year-old, Liverpool Blue Coat School student Lara Rimmer.