[7] Prior to receiving tax support, the town public library ran on donations and moved across numerous downtown locations over the decades of the 20th century.

[8] Soon after the Tuesday Club organized in town in 1899 as a women's literary and culture society, they helped to establish, purchase, stock, and run a free public library in Columbia.

The Daniel Boone Regional Library (DBRL) system was established in 1959 as a joining of the earlier established Boone, Howard, and Callaway counties public libraries, together with the county seat town of Boone County of the Columbia Public Library[11] In 2023, DBRL had a cumulative circulation of 2,847,389, including ebooks, digital audiobooks, and digital magazines.

[12] CPL experimented with eliminating overdue fines starting July, 1961 for a six-month trial period.

[14] It was common for public libraries around the United States to forgive fines for a brief amnesty period, but the practice of discontinuing late fees did not catch on more widely until the 2010s.