It houses the city library service's single largest general lending and reference collection, as well as Graves Art Gallery, on the third floor, and a theatre in the basement.

Conceived as part of a plan by Patrick Abercrombie to create a civic square, it was the only element of that proposal ever built and so it faces onto a narrow street.

The building, supported by a steel frame, is faced with Portland stone and has some decorative mouldings by Alfred and William Tory.

In January 2017, Private Eye reported that the building's owner, Sheffield City Council, planned to sell it due to expensive repairs being required following years of neglect.

The potential buyer was the Sichuan Guodong Construction Group, a Chinese developer, which proposed to convert the library into a hotel.