The previous library building on Pearl Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

The Free Public Library was created in 1882, and it operated out of rented space.

W. S. Baird, a library trustee, contacted the Carnegie Foundation, which agreed to fund a new building at $50,000 if the city agreed to provide a site and institute an annual tax of $5,000 to operate the facility.

[1] The Carnegie-funded building was converted into the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, which opened in 2013.

The city retains ownership of the old building, the Union Pacific Railroad pays for the operating costs, and the library maintains the collection.