Breuer and his partner Hamilton P. Smith reimagined the inverted, stepped shape of the Whitney Museum for this late project, the last before Breuer’s retirement. The library’s director and board wanted to hire an internationally-known architect for the design of the main branch of the Atlanta public library system. They interviewed Breuer and Paul Rudolph before deciding to give the commission to Breuer, with local firm Stevens and Wilkinson acting as Associate Architects. Design for the building began in 1971 but funding issues stemming from a bond referendum delayed construction until 1977. The library was completed in 1980.

The finished building features eight stories above ground and two below, with a monumental staircase acting as the focal point of the second, third and fourth floors. Each façade features slightly different massing. The southwest entrance façade cantilevers over a sunken plaza and includes a partial, glass wall that invites passersby into the building. The exterior wall of bush-hammered precast-concrete panels conceals a structural system steel frame and concrete slabs. These concrete panels reduce the weight-load of the façade and provided substantial savings in the overall budget of the building in comparison to stone. Breuer enlivened the severe volume of the building by the subtle pattern of the panels, the unexpected placement of windows and variations in the projection of the façade.