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Community members in Iowa Falls came together in the early 1900s to raise funds to build this historic public library, which was completed in 1905 with matching funds from industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The land was given to the city by local businessman Eugene Ellsworth, who also contributed funds to the library's construction. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the building now houses the Iowa Falls Historical Society Museum, the collection of the late artist Pat Clark, the Iowa Falls Area Development Corporation, and Chamber Main Street, which is an organization dedicated to preserving the city's Main Street district. Clark's art collection is displayed on a rotating basis in a gallery that is open to the public.

In 1992, the Board of Trustees of the Iowa Falls Library decided that the community had outgrown the original Carnegie Library, built in 1905. Without a way to expand the old library, a new one needed to be built at another location, namely on Highway 20 near the Iowa River.
The community generously gave financial support and leadership to the project, and Jerene Barlow, in memory of her husband, Robert W. Barlow, gave a large donation.
The new library was dedicated on August 13, 2000 with a program beginning at 1:30 pm. Speakers at the dedication included Vision 21 Chairman C. John Campbell, State Librarian Sharman Smith and former Library Board President Jeanne Strahorn.

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