Boyd County Public Library history

According to records the first book cataloged was Fisherman’s Luck by Henry Van Dyke published in 1913.

In February 1914, a subscription library was started in the Gray and Poor Store on Winchester Avenue; the first Librarian was Miss Hilton.

In December 1930, the Ashland Memorial Library Association was organized to establish a free public library for the city.

In 1935 city commissioners adopted a resolution supporting construction of a library.

On October 7, 1936 the first meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Ashland Public Library was held in the mayor’s office.

The Bookmobile service was begun in 1954 and thrived for many years.

During the Library Petition campaign in the 1970’s commitments were made to establish branches in the county.

On April 25, 1979, county petitions were presented to the fiscal court requesting that a county library district be formed.

In 1981, a renovation was started using funds from Mayor Weaver’s bequest, the remainder of teacher Minnie Winder’s estate, and from an Appalachian grant.

The Summit Branch opened its’ doors in rented space on Labor Day 1982.

Another branch was opened on Labor Day 1983 in Catlettsburg on Louisa Street.

The branch was at this location for 6 years and in November 1988 the new Summit branch opened at its new location on Summit Road.

In 2006, the library opened the Reading Garden just off the Main Library.

In June of 2008, the City of Ashland opened the newly constructed Library Commons.