In 2011 the World Monuments Fund included the library on its watch list along with Preston bus station stating that the buildings were dramatically sited and uncompromising in their stark use of concrete and powerfully structural forms. They brought a sense of the monumental to the British urban landscape at the time of their construction and remain architectural icons. It was hoped that placing these buildings on the watch list would open dialogue into their protection and alternatives for adaptive reuse. Preston bus station was saved from demolition and listed at Grade II in September 2013; however dialogue on the demolition of the Central Library did not progress.