It is located on the edge of the Farmers Market District and adjacent to Main Street Garden Park.

[citation needed] The library opened in September 1955 capable of holding 800,000 volumes but only containing 300,000 books.

[6] The newspaper's increased focus on creating digital content and relocation of the printing presses from the former Young Street headquarters were cited as reasons for the transfer.

Thornton called it “a bunch of junk painted up,” and a “cheap welding job.”[7] Outrage over the sculpture grew so much that architect George Dahl purchased the artwork himself and moved it to his private home, where it remained until wealthy and embarrassed citizens donated money for the sculpture.

The façade of the library contained an 880-pound, 20-foot (6.1 m) high aluminum sculpture by Marshall Fredericks entitled "Youth in the Hands of God."