The West Bridgford Library building is a pre-War development on Central Avenue, West Bridgford, on the south-western side of a municipal park. It was originally designed as a T-shaped building of single-storey form, but it underwent enlargement in the late twentieth century with an extension to the rear. The building's architect has not been identified, but it appears likely to have been designed within the Nottinghamshire County Architect's Department. The building is currently in use, and is one of the most heavily-used public libraries in the area. Designs for a new library complex for the community have been drawn up which better address the issue of disabled access and computer-based library services.

The original library was a roughly rectangular single storied building to which a two-storey rear extension has been added. The building is constructed of red brick with ashlar limestone dressings to the door and window openings in the central part of the front elevation. This is the most architecturally imposing part of an otherwise functionally detailed complex, with other elevations having plainly-detailed elevations, and glazing bar sash windows beneath brick soldier arches. The main entrance has a wide entrance doorway approached by a flight of three stone steps. The ashlar surround incorporates a bracketed flat canopy and a semi-circular fanlight with decorative metalwork in front of the glazed area. Flanking the entrance are two tall semi-circular arch-headed glazing bar sash windows, and beyond them are slightly set back, lower and more plainly detailed bays. To the rear of the frontage range, the central part of the building extends at a higher level than the flanking ranges to meet the taller two-storey rear extension. This extension replicates the form and detailing of the original building. The interior of the library retains little evidence of the original fixtures and fittings, and is now almost entirely open-plan with an island counter at the front of the main body of the library beyond the entrance lobby. At the rear of the library are ground floor exhibition areas and stairs which give access to an upper level.

The emergence of public libraries as familiar elements of urban and suburban landscapes began in the late nineteenth century and continued throughout the twentieth century. Lending and reference libraries, along with primary and secondary schools represented a massive and continuous investment in local authority educational provision, although a great many of the earliest smaller and branch library developments owed their existence to the private wealth of philanthropists such as Andrew Carnegie and Passmore Edwards. Some of the designs of these smaller libraries, as well those for the central libraries, were the work of notable architects such as H.T. Hare, but many more designs were produced within local authority architects' departments, alongside those for public housing and school projects. When assessing nineteenth and twentieth century public libraries for listing, particular importance is attached to the architectural quality of the building and to the degree of alteration it has undergone. Other factors will include the interior of the building, whether its original plan form was of particular significance, and whether substantial evidence of that spatial arrangement survives. Original fixtures and fittings can enhance the case for listing, as can a building's association with funding by the Carnegie or Passmore Edwards endowments. Public libraries often form part of civic ensembles, and the survival of other well-preserved public buildings designed as a piece alongside a library can strengthen a claim to special interest.

The West Bridgford Library is a carefully designed inter-War public library which continues to operate very successfully, but it embodies none of the important characteristics which distinguish those examples considered to be of special architectural interest as defined above. It is therefore not recomended for listing. (1)

Tony Sumpter, 2008, West Bridgford Library, Bridgford Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham. Archaeological Desktop Assessment. (Unpublished document). SNT6274.

<1> R. Hawkins, 2009, English Heritage Listing File - West Bridgford Library (Unpublished document). SNT6262.

<2> Historic England, 2021, National Record of Historic Environment (Digital archive). SNT5271.