[5][2] By 1879, the Library Association was facing financial difficulties and offered to transfer ownership to the City of Sacramento on the condition that it be made free.

Under the leadership of Director Lauren W. Ripley, Sacramento Free Public Library reached an agreement with the Board of Supervisors of the County of Sacramento in 1908 to become the first city library in the state of California to extend free service to county residents.

The purpose of the Sacramento Public Library Authority is to provide public library services that provide open access to diverse resources and ideas that inspire learning, promote reading, and enhance community life to all citizens in its member jurisdictions.

[19] In 2011, U.S. Congrsswoman Doris Matsui commented that, "The Sacramento Public Library continues to establish itself as a leader in the region, and as a model for other systems.

[22] As of 2015, the Sacramento Public Library began to stock general materials that community members may need to borrow, such as pots, pans, sewing machines and other similar items in order to offer better services to the community and to draw in larger populations from the area.

[26] After a 12-year career, Rivkah Sass, hired in 2009 who is "widely credited with transforming the region’s library system from a dysfunctional organization under investigation by the Sacramento County grand jury to one of the nation’s finest" retired.