[1] It is housed within the History Faculty building on the Sidgwick Site off West Road, Cambridge.

In 1968 the Seeley moved to the Sidgwick site as part of the new History Faculty building designed by James Stirling.

[4] The skylight over the reading room is a crucial part of the design, although it is difficult to see from outside the building and contributes nothing to its silhouette.

The project was headed by John McAslan, who said that "The main problem with the building is that it leaks, it’s too bright, too hot in summer and too cold in winter.”[7] Drainage problems and leaks have persisted in the Seeley Library, and a further attempt to remedy the issue was made in the Summer of 2015, when an entirely new surface was given to the flat concrete roof over the book stacks.

28 university societies and organisations have backed the petition, including the Student Union, which is calling on the university's history department to rename the Seeley Historical Library because its current name celebrates John Robert Seeley, a Cambridge historian “known for his justification of the British Empire".