EPPL History

History of the El Paso Public Library

130 years ago, in 1894, a teacher, Mary Irene Stanton, donated over 800 books to start the El Paso Reading Club for high school age boys in the old Sheldon office building. The collection kept growing and attracted more patrons, including males and females of all ages. In 1899, the small library relocated to the City Hall. Thanks to a $35,000 donation from Mr. Andrew Carnegie, a new location was built on Buckler Square (later renamed as Carnegie Square).  The new Carnegie Library opened to the public on April 25, 1904.

As the city’s population increased, the demands for library’s services and resources rose. In 1915, four library service stations, predecessors to the branches today, were established for the convenience of patrons. The stations were located at Blaine’s Grocery in the Grandview Addition, Gunning & Casteel Drug Store, on Hueco St., Highland Drug Store, on Kentucky Ave., and Washington Park Fair Store, on Alameda.  Between 1926 and 1928, three of those service stations closed. 

During the fall of 1918, the influenza virus reached the city.  In October, the library, and other public institutions closed their doors to the public and entered into a city-wide quarantine for nearly five weeks. The library reopened on November 9th. 

In January of 1920, a bond of $25,000 was secured for the expansion and remodeling of the library. In August of that same year, a large part of the book collection was moved to the County Courthouse, which served as the temporary headquarters of the library.  The collection of businessmen’s books was moved to the Chamber of Commerce.  On March 28, 1921, the remodeled and expanded two-story Carnegie Library re-opened to the public. 

On November 17, 1950, the Memorial Park Branch located at 3200 Copper opened to the public.  El Paso voters approved a $975,000 library bond issue to build a new public library building, and on September 12, 1954, the new “Modern Southwestern” style library was dedicated. Later that year, on November 19, 1957, the library's first bookmobile began to operate. 

Thanks to a $192,000 bond, from 1960 to 1968, the Lower Valley Branch, the Richard Burges Branch, the Clardy Fox Branch, and the Armijo Branch, opened.  In 1969, the old Carnegie Library was demolished and later replaced with a parking lot.  In the years ahead, multiple branches, including the Ysleta Branch, Veterans Park in the North East, “Biblioteca Del Barrio” bookmobile, Cielo Vista Branch off of Viscount, Irving Schwartz Branch, West Side Branch, the Northwest Campus Community Library at El Paso Community College, and the Dorris Van Doren Branch, were either opened, renamed, and/or dedicated. In 2004, the Cleveland Square and Main Library expansion began.  Main Library was closed to the public and reopened in 2006. 

Due to the Covid19 pandemic, in 2020, The El Paso Public Library and its branches suspended in-person and curbside services.  In 2021, libraries first resumed services by appointment only, then in the summer, the branches allowed for indoor seating, reading, and searching.  Main Library closed for renovation in August of 2021. Border Heritage was relocated to the Sergio Troncoso Library for the renovation's duration. 

TIMELINE