1890 saw the first reading room established in Fairhaven by "public spirited citizens who felt that there should be someplace for men to spend their evenings besides the saloons".
Over time Fairhaven library needs evolved and in 1904 the Library Board approached the Carnegie Foundation for funding. $12,000 was forwarded by the Carnegie Foundation and the library was built on land donated by C.X. Larabee, a prominent figure in Fairhaven's early days. Later an additional $3,500 were received from the Carnegie Foundation.
While this was originally a red brick building, the structure was covered with stucco due to a severe water leakage problem, a serious matter in the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.
Last year the library was closed for several months to properly deal with the water leakage issues and it reopened in January 2010 as a library.