The Willard Library houses a trove of local archives and genealogical materials in addition to its collection of standard publications.

He established a trust fund in 1876 about which he wrote: An agent for the Underground Railroad before the Civil War, Mr. Carpenter incorporated his concern for the rights of African Americans into his requirement that the library "be maintained for the free use of all persons who may desire to consult it."

The library building was started in 1876 at First Avenue and Pennsylvania Streets in Carpenter's field, a place where circuses once pitched their tents.

Notable architectural features employing this style include the tower, steeply pitched roofs with ornamental gables, color contrast resulting from the use of white stone and brick, and window arcades with Gothic arches.

Terra cotta was used extensively for exterior decoration in the form of rosettes and owls (symbols of wisdom) in roundels seen in the side gables.

Willard Library is home to a vast range of genealogy and local history special collections on their second floor.

Louise Carpenter sued the library board in the 1890s, believing it was hers on the pretense that her father was not in a sound state of mind when he wrote his last will and testament.

To Evansville natives, the Grey Lady is purported to be the ghost of a former librarian whose child was injured falling from a ladder while playing during their mother’s shift at the library.