Lytham library was built originally as a Mechanics Institute. It included a small library of books and a reading room and opened on 30 August 1878. The building was extended in 1898 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, including a new reading room, gymnasium and classrooms. The extension was opened by the Duke of Norfolk. In 1922 the library became part of the Municipal Borough of Lytham St Annes with the amalgamation of St Anne's on the Sea and Lytham Urban District Councils.