The library can trace its history back to 1906, when members of the Hemet Woman's Club wanted a place to gather and read literature, so they opened a reading room on the second floor of a bank on the Bothin Block.
Woman's Club members—along with many other community organizations—campaigned to get a public building built to house a permanent library collection.
The late Mrs. E. A. Davis composed a letter to Andrew Carnegie asking for the funds to help the community build a new facility.
However, Carnegie placed a contingency on his donation: the City of Hemet had to contribute the remainder of the $12,000 necessary to complete the construction.
This made room for the C. B. Covell Memorial Library Building which began construction in March 1971.