Shrewsbury Library is housed in a Grade 1 listed building situated on Castle Gates near Shrewsbury Castle. The site was the home of Shrewsbury School from 1550 until 1882. 

Above the main entrance are two statues bearing the inscriptions "Philomathes" and "Polumathes". These represent students, one coming to learn and the other a learned scholar on leaving. The inscription below is from Isocrates and reads "If you are a lover of learning, you will become learned".