[3] The next year, the Tigard Library opened in downtown on Main Street at the former city hall, but it was operated by volunteers with an initial collection of 1,011 books, most of which had been donated during a door-to-door campaign.

[5] City residents approved a $2.2 million bond in 1984 to build a new library at Tigard's new civic center.

[8] The city bought 14 acres (5.7 ha) along Fanno Creek in 2003 for the new library, which was located on a former farm with orchards and a farmhouse.

[9] The city hoped to restore the two-story farmhouse and open it to the public, but it burned down in August 2003, during construction of the new library.

[10] Part of the grounds of the new library were fenced-off in September 2008 because of arsenic contamination linked to the former orchard on the land.

[16] By the library's 50th anniversary, the collection had grown to more than 235,000 items, now including books, CDs, and movies.