The library's half-timbered front aspect has damned it in the eyes of English
Heritage, which feels it is not sufficiently distinguished to merit a listed building
status. HLAG is trying to change this view. Its many devoted admirers, however, love
the friendly and homey appearance that welcomes in the visitor. To the left of the
arched doorway is a 5-windowed corner turret, which houses a window seat used for
quiet reading and small meetings. A disabled ramp, installed by the council in 1996,
sweeps up to the entrance, making access easy for pushchairs and wheelchairs.
Upstairs is a space which was originally a flat for staff but which
is presently occupied by a small publisher. HLAG has been campaigning for
some time to have this space released by the Council for library use - it
could house reference, internet, meeting rooms, clubs and much more.
Plans to build an extension at the back of the library (presently containing
a cabin-like structure for staff office space and storage) are under consideration, and
an architect has agreed to draw up some plans for us. This might
spark enough interest to set up a bid for money for building.
At the end of a residential avenue, and next to Highgate Tube station and
the Archway Road, this late Victorian redbrick mock-Tudor library ("styled
to be in keeping with the private houses to be erected on the adjoining
sites") was built in 1902. The plans were prepared by Mr. E.J.
Lovegrove, engineer and surveyor to the Hornsey Urban District
Council and the estimated cost was £1000. It was a great period
of library building in Hornsey, as the central building on Tottenham Lane
and the Stroud Green Library had been erected in 1900, and plans
for Muswell Hill awaited only development of the rest of the Station
Estate on the spacious grounds at the top of the hill.
Inside there is a large area with fixed shelving of the period leading
back onto a "cathedral space" housing a reading area and the Junior Library.
There are high windows and a good feeling of openness and light (which is filtered
through the trees in the open area next door).