Barry Council Office and Library

The first lending library in Barry was opened in 1890, at 144 Holton Road.[2] It later moved to a three-storey house on the Square, with the ground floor used as a reading room, the lending library on the second floor and caretaker's rooms on the top floor.[2] In 1903 the Council applied to the Andrew Carnegie Trust for a grant for a purpose-built public library to be established; in response the trust awarded a grant of £8,000.[2] Following a design competition, Charles E. Hutchinson and E. Harding Payne of London, were selected to design the building in the Edwardian Baroque style.[1] After the first stage of construction, the library was opened by the Earl of Plymouth on 1 March 1906 and, following a second stage of construction, the town hall opened in 1908.[2] A further expansion to the rear of the new building was planned, but never executed.[3]

The town hall was originally the meeting place of Barry Urban District Council and, from 1939, of Barry Municipal Borough Council; it ceased to be the local seat of government after Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council was formed in 1974.[4]

After the library moved to temporary facilities at the Leisure Centre in 2001, a major refurbishment of the whole complex was carried out.[2] The work, which included a new wing for the library, was completed in time for an official opening on 4 January 2007.[5] The refurbishment of the complex had cost £371,000, some £124,000 more than had been budgeted, leading to requests for an inquiry in February 2008.[6]