The building was designed by architect Paul O. Moratz of Bloomington, Illinois, and its unique architectural features have been preserved throughout its over 100-year history.

Construction on the Paxton Library began when the $10,000 Carnegie grant came through; the cornerstone was laid by Harry and George Turner in October 1903.

[2] The Paxton Carnegie Library is governed by a nine-member board of trustees which meets the first Wednesday of each month.

Today, the library houses over 26,000 volumes, subscriptions to 73 periodicals for adults and 10 for children and 4 newspapers, 1,000 videos, 300 audio books, microfilm, vertical files, city and county history information, large print books and computers and fax machines for public use.

All residents of the city of Paxton may have a free library card while non-residents are required to pay an annual fee.