In 1898, a group of women founded the Fortnightly Club and opened a private reading room in a store building in downtown Eugene.

[1] This remained the main library building until it was moved to its current location at West 10th Avenue and Charnelton Street in 2002.

[1] In 2003 the new library building won first place in the American Institute of Architects of Southwest Oregon's public architecture awards.

[7] The library received a $1.1 million bequest in 2009 from the estate of Frederick "Doc" Rankin, a Eugene doctor and property owner who died in 2004.

[8] The library's latest building and its underground parking garage have been described as "energy efficient, low maintenance, and filled with daylight.