In 1885, anticipating a bequest, the town council adopted an ordinance accepting the legacy in trust of Nehemiah to be set apart as a library fund for the city.

They provided a board of nine directors to have exclusive control of the fund for the city and the power to purchase, lease or construct a building that would be suitable for a library.

The town council would have custody of the building and the grounds and they would appoint suitable librarians and assistants and decide how much they would be paid.

[1] In 1886, three years after Nehemiah's death, the county court paid his bequest to the town council for the establishment of a free public library and reading room in the city of Princeton.

A trained librarian, Miss Elizabeth Clark, installed the cataloging and Dewey Decimal Classification.

[2] In 1911, Samuel P. Clark offered the board the site for the library, located at 15 Park Avenue West.

First National Bank[4][5] donated a strip of land adjoining on the north and later Mr. Clark added a gift of $7,720 for the purchase of the lot to the east of the library property.

The Women’s Club contributed $3,400 with the reservation that there be an assembly hall on the second floor for a meeting place until the amount of rent equaled their donation.

[6] In 1920 the North End Library opened as a branch in the Chapter House building erected by the American Woman's League.

In November 1997 the board sponsored a public forum and selected the Transamerican Building as a site for a new library, pending on City Council and voter approval, but in March 1998 the referendum was defeated.

In August and September 2002 complaints were filed with Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education against the library for lack of handicapped accessibility.

[8] In March 2006, Princeton voters were once again asked to vote on a $2 million referendum which would provide money necessary to buy and remodel the former Eagles/BOGO building into a modern library.

[10] In August 2006 the library board began a capital campaign to raise $600,000 from private funds to help finance the building project that was estimated at $3 million.

Princeton Public Library cardholders may also check out e-books and digital audio books through Online Media of Northern Illinois.