[2] The library was designed to be a church hall for St. James The Apostle on Knatchbull Road and to be used by the tenants of the local estate.

When Minet's first wife, Alice Evans, died in 1887 before the building was completed, he decided to turn it into a public library in her memory.

[2] Hubbard's octagonal library building, in the Gothic Revival style, was partially destroyed by an incendiary bomb on 8 December 1940 during The Blitz.

Around 6,700 books were salvaged, and half of those were moved to Longfield Hall where a temporary library was established.

[11][12] [13] Lambeth Archives and the local history reference collection remains open to the public until a new home can be found.