[2] Shortly after its creation, it moved into the building, combining two contemporary revival architectural styles, after money was raised by the local chapter of the King's Daughters, a women's civic organization.

A granite retaining wall, original to the site and thus considered a contributing resource to the Register listing, runs along the south side.

[1] Its main section is a two-story, rectangular structure with a rounded southeast corner, exposed basement and flat roof.

[1] Below the cornice is a limestone frieze decorated with carvings of garlands tied together in ropes and the letters "FOWLER LIBRARY BUILDING" on the south face.

A bronze dedication plaque commemorates the library's opening on May 14, 1903, and lists the names of its principal donor and the society's board of directors at that time.

In the basement, the brick flooring set in dirt is believed to be that of a hotel building on the site before the library was constructed.

[1] Haverstraw was incorporated in 1854, and quickly grew due to a successful brick industry that tapped the large clay deposits along the river.

[1] That year the president of the society suggested the organization set up a public library, a common charitable goal during the Gay Nineties.

In 1899, local brickmaker Denton Fowler offered to donate $10,000 ($366,000 in contemporary dollars[3]) toward the purchase of land and the construction of a building to be named after him, as long as it was matched.

[2] In 1983, a combination of state and federal funding helped the library expand the Fowler Building with the west wing.

Named after Kay Freeman, the director of the library for 21 years, a condition of the federal contribution was that the wing be architecturally sympathetic with the existing building.

[2] In 2001 the Town Board approved a subdivision on Rosman Road that would allow the library to build a new main branch at Garnerville.