Library’s History

Monroe has had a free public library since the early 1880’s. In 1904 the Arabut Ludlow family gave $12,500 to build a new library at 1505 9th Street. The Arabut Ludlow Memorial Library served the community for over 90 years, but in that time its 5,300 square feet became overcrowded.

You can read about the complicated road to the Arabut Ludlow building in What Lida Wants Lida Gets: How Monroe Got its Public Library, by John Evangelist Walsh.

In September 1993, Lee and June Geiger purchased the old Monroe Clinic and graciously donated it to the School District of Monroe for a new public library. Thanks to a community fundraising effort of $330,000 and the passage of a 1.65 million dollar referendum, the new 20,000 square foot Monroe Public Library opened its doors on April 8, 1996.

Today, the library occupies the first two floors of the clinic building, with the administrative offices of the Monroe School District occupying the third floor.  The library is ideally located on the historic downtown square.