Oskaloosa's public library was officially established on March 7, 1899, through a voter-approved levy tax following the work of the YMCA and the Oskaloosa Women's Club, and it opened to the public on Monday, Sept 8th 1903. The building was one of 1,689 libraries in the US funded by an Andrew Carnegie grant; of the $24,500 cost including land, $20,000 was received in 1902 on the condition that the city provide a site, future maintenance, and free membership. In the library's genealogy room on the 2nd floor, a marble time capsule was placed on Sunday, September 13, 2003, to be opened on September 14, 2103. In the early 1990's, the building's existence was threatened by pending lawsuits over handicapped accessibility and a movement to build a new library, but the Library Board led a successful public vote to preserve and modernize the building.