 The library was conceived in the late 1990s in because of high traffic in the Toa Payoh Community Library and Ang Mo Kio Community Library.Plans for the library commenced in 2002, and construction took place from 2003 to 2006 at a cost of about S$10 million.Designed by Look Boon Gee, it have about 250,000 titles spread over four floors and a basement, with a Café Galilee in the first floor.