The small group of about forty members all paid dues to sustain their private collection of more than 300 volumes in a cozy reading room in downtown Champaign on Main Street.

Ten years later in 1876, the group voted to dissolve itself in favor of enabling public access to their collection.

Designed by Hammond Beeby and Associates of Chicago, the building was funded largely by a $2.3 million referendum.

The new building, designed by Ross Barney Architects of Chicago, Illinois contains 121,000 square feet of new and improved space.

After escaping slavery in Maryland, Douglass became a noted advocate for equality among all people and lectured in Champaign at least once while traveling north.