The first city library was established in 1923 when members of the Canton Woman's Club donated a collection of books to be available to the public.

Initially these books were housed in a jewelry store on Main Street and were available for checkout two days a week.

In the 1930s with the advent of the Works Progress Administration money was given in order to pay a clerk to run the library.

The old church was sold and the county Board of Education began contributing $25 each month to pay the salary of the clerk.

[2] In 1943 the State Department of Education and Georgia Legislature passed a bill aiding libraries in rural areas by granting them increased state funding if they chose to make a regional library system with neighboring counties.