On February 3, 1916, the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and several other civic groups presented the idea of establishing a public library to Mayor Joseph J. Richardson and the Smithfield City Council. Constructed in 1921 at a cost of $20,000, the Smithfield Carnegie Public Library was the first public library in Smithfield and is a fine example of Prairie style architecture in Utah adapted to a small public building. It was designed by architect Fred W. Hodgson, a prominent local architect who designed many other buildings in Cache Valley. The library was one of more than 1,400 public libraries established throughout the U.S. between 1898 and 1920, primarily through grants from Andrew Carnegie, a multi-millionaire and steel magnate who believed the rich had an obligation to use their excess wealth for the benefit of mankind. Carnegie gave communities much, but not all, of the money required to build libraries in order to encourage their commitment to establishing free library programs, with the understanding that the community would furnish and maintain the building, as Smithfield did. Continually used as a public library, the building remains a key historic resource within the community of Smithfield, and a new addition was completed in 2014.