[2] Housed in an 1899 Neoclassical building, the Winona Public Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 for having local significance in architecture and education.

On March 22, 1886, the association donated its collection of 3,500 books to Winona, forming the city's first free public library.

[5] In the late 1890s, local lumber magnate William H. Laird donated $50,000 to the city to cover construction costs of a permanent home for the library.

The domed Neoclassical building was designed by Warren Powers Laird, dean of the school of architecture of the University of Pennsylvania, and Edgar Viguers Seeler, a prominent Philadelphia architect.

Artwork includes the Kenyon Cox mural The Light of Learning and a marble copy of Antonio Canova's sculpture Hebe.