On March 3, 2005, the first visitors walked through the glass entrance to the Jubilee Library, marking the completion of a two-year building project.

Some visitors had queued for an hour before the building opened, and so many visitors arrived that the building had to be shut and the toilets stopped flushing from overuse.

Within six months, 336,000 items had been borrowed from the library and more than 350,000 people had visited.

Since then, it has become the second most popular library in the country, wining multiple awards along the way.

To celebrate its first ten years, volunteers and young people joined together on World Book Day to enjoy birthday cake and ice cream and to listen to the work of local writers as part of a new installation.

The Young City Reads programme, which encourages children to read for pleasure, was also launched on Thursday.

This year’s chosen book is William Sutcliffe’s Circus of Thieves and the Raffle of Doom. Brighton ice cream parlour Boho Gelato created a new flavour, Big Top Banan(z)a, inspired by the book.

Children from across the city were invited to take part in an acting and storytelling workshop with actor Tom Dussek, and will have a chance to meet the book’s author in May.

The Jubilee Library was closed earlier this year for internal improvements, including new meeting rooms, a new computer suite and a seating area for community groups or book clubs.

Councillor Geoffrey Bowden, chairman of the economic development and culture committee, said: “Jubilee Library has just gone from strength to strength.

“It's a firm favourite with residents and visitors, attracting around one million visits a year, around twice those originally expected.

“We're delighted to be celebrating the anniversary with volunteers who make such a valuable contribution”.

12 famous visitors to the Jubilee Library

1) Princess Anne

2) The Queen

3) Tony Blair

4) Children’s author Jacqueline Wilson

5) Author Peter James

6) Poet John Agard

7) Author Deborah Moggach

8) Actor, comedian and screenwriter Terry Jones

9) Musician and author Nick Cave

10) Musician Kevin Rowland

11) Actress Patsy Palmer, from EastEnders

12) Actor Mark Williams, from The Fast Show

Top ten mood-boosting books (as voted for by residents in 2014)

1) Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

2) Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

3) The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

4) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

5) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

6) Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

7) The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

8) Dead Man’s Time by Peter James

9) Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee

10) The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

10 most borrowed authors of 2013/2014 (UK)

1) James Patterson

2) Daisy Meadows

3) Julia Donaldson

4) Francesca Simon

5) MC Beaton

6) Adam Blade

7) Jacqueline Wilson

8) Nora Roberts

9) Lee Child

10) Roald Dahl

10 languages represented in the library’s collection

1) Latin

2) Greek

3) Russian

4) Arabic

5) Czech

6) Hebrew

7) Persian

8) Welsh

9) Coptic

10) Hindi

10 awards won by Jubilee Library

1) Prime Minister’s Better Place Public Buildings award, 2005

2) British Construction Industry Building Projects award, 2005

3) Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers – Major Project of the Year 2005

4) Royal Institute of British Architects – Regional Award, 2005

5) Concrete Society Certificate of Excellence, 2005

6) Libraries Group Award – Partnership Category, 2005

7) Libraries Group Award – Delegates Choice, 2005

8) International Green Apple Awards 2006, for the Built Environment and Architectural Heritage

9) Observer Ethical Award 2006, Buildings Category

10) Civic Trust Award 2006

10 reasons to visit the library

1) Expand your mind with literature, history, philosophy and more

2) Get self-help for mental health from the Books on Prescription service

3) Plan your fantasy dream holiday in the travel section

4) Learn a new skill with instruction and tuition books

5) Make a difference by volunteering

6) Catch up with the news with the collection of magazines, newspapers and periodicals

7) Find your new favourite band in the music section

8) Find a comfortable and quiet place to relax with a good book

9) Access rare or out of print books that are not available in shops

10) Find new books and authors with recommendations from librarians

10 things to do in the library other than read

1) Browse the internet

2) Listen to music from their CD collection

3) Have a cup of tea in the cafe

4) Enjoy the free wifi access

5) Browse gifts in the store

6) Get help with basic IT skills and improve your computer literacy

7) Examine antique volumes in the rare books collection

8) Dance with the kids at a Baby Boogie session

9) Fax and photocopy documents

10) Explore the Conflux exhibition, until March 16

10 most borrowed books

1) James Patterson

2) Daisy Meadows

3) Julia Donaldson

4) Francesca Simon

5) MC Beaton

6) Adam Blade

7) Jacqueline Wilson

8) Nora Roberts

9) Lee Child

10) Roald Dahl

10 facts you probably did not know about the library

1) The Jubilee Library’s carbon emissions are only 50% that of conventional buildings.

2) Toilets are flushed with rainwater, collected from the roof and stored in a 10,000 litre tank.

3) When the Queen visited the library in 2007 she watched a baby dance class.

4) The millionth visitor, in May 2009, won free music and DVD rentals for life.

5) A 1986 proposal for the library suggested building it under an ice- rink.

6) Artwork for the new library was chosen in a national competition.

7) The final strand of the Jubilee Square development, a My Hotel, was completed in late 2007.

8) Library staff run an annual art festival, Paperback, featuring the creations of library staff.

9) From 2008-2011, Jubilee Library was open on the last Saturday in October until 2am for White Nights to celebrate the clocks turning back for the Winter.

10) In 2007 there was a rice model of the Royal Pavilion built at the front of the library by the Edible Construction Company using 10,000 kilos of vacuum packed rice, to raise awareness of the worldwide use of food resources.

10 Library Rules

1) No person shall give a false name and address for the purpose of entering the library.

2) No person who in the reasonable opinion of the library officer is offensively unclean in person or clothing or both shall remain in the library after having been asked by a library officer to leave the library

3) No person shall, without lawful excuse, destroy or damage any library property.

4) No person shall behave in a disorderly manner in the library, use violent, abusive or obscene language therein, or intentionally or recklessly cause or do anything likely to cause injury to any other person or property.

5) No person shall sleep in the library after having been requested not to do so by a library officer.

6) No person shall intentionally or recklessly obstruct any library officer in the execution of his/her duty, or intentionally or recklessly disturb, obstruct, interrupt, abuse or annoy any other person properly using the library.

7) No person shall, without the consent of a library officer, offer anything for sale in the library or canvass or seek signatures for petitions.

8) No person shall smoke, light a match or a cigarette lighter in the library.

9) No person in any part of the library shall inhale any toxic substance for the purpose of causing intoxication or take any controlled drug.

10) No person shall, except with the consent of a library officer, partake of refreshment in the library.