The building’s history dates to 1889, when the Brooklyn Park Commission was authorized to select a location for the library. However, it would take more than a decade to break ground and begin construction. This would be an omen for the future of the building's construction.

In 1912, ground was broken on architect Raymond F. Almirall’s imposing Beaux-Arts design, but construction slowed and eventually ceased in the following years as the nation and the borough endured economic difficulties brought on by World War I and the Great Depression.

A single unfinished wing of the building sat empty on Flatbush Avenue for more than two decades. It would eventually be stripped of all its detail and reduced to its frame.

Construction resumed on a reimagined Central Library in 1935, and the building finally opened to the public on February 1, 1941. The library’s design evokes an open book, with its spine on Grand Army Plaza and two wings opening like pages onto Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Avenue.

Its 50-foot-high entry portico, set into the concave limestone façade, reflects the elliptical configuration of Grand Army Plaza. The dramatic entrance features fifteen gilded figures from American literature, framed by columns with gold-leaf etchings that depict the evolution of art and science through the ages.

The library exterior also features inscriptions along the front entrance and Flatbush and Eastern Parkway wings. The architects, Githens and Keally had stripped down the massive ornamented plans for the Library to a spare elegant design.

At 352,000 square feet, with a circulation of more than 1.7 million materials and an annual door count of 1.3 million visits, Central is Brooklyn’s home library and one of New York City’s foremost cultural, civic, and educational institutions. Following its opening, the Brooklyn Central Library became the home of the Brooklyn Public Library's administrative staff.

The Central Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.