Sedona Library History and Development

1958    
A volunteer group, "Friends of the Library," established Sedona's first library in donated space with three shelves of books and magazines, which also were donated.

1966
The library was incorporated as a non-profit, privately owned organization that had 6,230 books. That same year, two Sedonans, Eugenia Wright and Helen Ecker, donated land on Jordan Road for a library building.

1968
Sen. Barry Goldwater was the keynote speaker at groundbreaking ceremonies, and the new building, built largely by volunteer labor and local donations, was completed one year later.

1985
The 5,OOO-square-foot building on Jordan Road was becoming too cramped to meet Sedona's growing needs, and the library board began to investigate ways to expand the facility.

1986
Sedona resident Ethel M. Low came to the rescue in January, with a donation of $326,000 to buy land for a new and larger library.

1991
Fund-raising efforts brought in enough money to begin construction of a new building designed by Sedona's Design Group Architects.  Subsequently, ground-breaking ceremonies took place October 2, 1991.

1994
May 14, a parade of Sedona citizens carried "Books Across Sedona" to symbolize the move to the new library building at 3250 White Bear Road. This move took place over the next three weeks, and the new building opened its doors to the public June 6, 1994. At the formal dedication October 1, Sen. Barry Goldwater once again gave the keynote speech, 26 years after his appearance at the groundbreaking of the first library building.

2000
In October the library joined the Yavapai Library Network which increased the number of resources available to our patrons from 60,000 to 600,000.  In December of 2000, the library began offering Internet access to the public.