By the early 1970s, it was clear that the school library was not meeting the demands of the growing community.

In 1972, led by the Coquitlam Chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women, a town meeting was called to discuss the need for an official public library.

It was not until June 14, 1976, that the municipality passed a by-law to officially create the Coquitlam Public Library under the Provincial Library Act.

The Poirier branch was extensively renovated and expanded in 2008–2009.

[6] The new location nearly tripled the library's space to 31,000 square feet, and the $15 million cost for the facility and expansion came primarily from revenues collected from the Hard Rock Casino.