Designed by Maurice Bingham Adams, and originally known as the Passmore Edwards Free Library Hammersmith,[2] the project was one of many public libraries built around the end of the nineteenth century by John Passmore Edwards (1823 – 1911).

The son of a carpenter, he was born in Blackwater, a small village between Redruth and Truro in Cornwall, United Kingdom.

[5] The library was built in 1895, when Shepherd's Bush was still largely open land, but in the process of being developed to house London's expanding suburbs.

In the early 20th century Irish labourers sought work and opportunities in London; their arrival in the capital created fears of urban slums and the spread of disease.

[7] At the turn of the century Hammersmith MP Sir William Bull was appalled to see Shepherd's Bush Green become home to destitute unemployed sleeping rough, gambling, and playing pitch and toss.