It was intended to be fireproof – hence, the use of tile shingles rather than wood ones – and serve as both a public library and a community meeting place.

The street (south) facade is asymmetrical and features a single, great gable that continues down to join the porch roof, a two-story half-turret, a small second-story balcony, and five first-story windows with stained-glass upper panes that light the circulation desk.

A description from 1900: "The building was designed by Mr. George Keller, a noted architect of Hartford, Ct; is eighty-six by forty-five feet upon the ground, and two stories high ...

With another donation from Isabella Eldridge, Keller more than doubled the size of the building, turning its plan into that of a small cathedral.

In place of an apse, Keller added the Great Hall, a large meeting room at the end of the building's axis.

The Great Hall is also a two-and-a-half-story, barrel-vaulted space surrounded by a gallery, but it is at a grander scale than the original building.