Penge's original library, which opened in 1894 at the corner of Laurel Grove replaced a temporary reading room opened two years earlier in Station Road, Anerley.

It remained in Oakfield Road until 1928 when the service was transfered to Oak Lawn, Anerley Road, at the entrance to Betts Park. This replacement building was found to be unsafe and was demolished in 1968 being replaced by a temporary building adjacent to it.

In 1987 the service was transfered to the former courtroom at the town hall. The original building illustrated here is thought to have suffered war damage and was eventually replaced by a block of flats.