The Howard Public Library was the first public library chartered in Dakota Territory. Charter No. 1 was issued to the Ladies Library Association of Howard on January 8, 1886, by M.L. McCormick, Territorial Secretary, and in 1889 the City of Howard assumed ownership. During its first six years, the library was housed briefly in the Methodist Church and then in Boles General Store, with only a large bookcase open a few hours each week, and the librarian’s salary was 25 cents a week. On September 26, 1892, a fire destroyed the Boles Store, the library furnishings, its records, and all but 11 books that were out on loan. Within three months, on January 21, 1893, the Library Board reopened the library in a corner of the city jail and gradually expanded into the City Council room, where it remained for 74 years. In the early 1900s, efforts to build a Carnegie Library advanced to a public election and planning stage, but World War I intervened and Carnegie grants were discontinued. In 1935 the city jail was moved, and by 1938 the library had been remodeled and enlarged to occupy the entire building. A new Municipal Building was built in 1967 with room for a more up-to-date library. The historic building that had housed the library for 74 years was later purchased privately and given to Prairie Village, Madison, SD. At the new Main Street location, enlarged holdings renewed public interest, and by its centennial year of 1986 the collection exceeded 12,000 volumes. In 1999, the library moved again into the east end of the Municipal Building, tripling its size and providing patrons with a more useful working environment, with computers and new technology joining books as resources for the 21st century.