Years of research, beginning in the 1940s led to the selection of the Library’s present location at the corner of Fifth Avenue and William Street. Other sites considered included the corner of Packard and Main Streets and a site on Miller Avenue in West Park. Alden B. Dow, a member of the Dow Chemical family, was asked to design the building.

A brochure from the Library’s opening on October 13, 1957 reflects a modern sensibility: “the new library is designed to meet the changing concepts of public library service. Facilities for the use of audio-visual materials have been provided, and space for group meetings to demonstrate and interpret the library’s resources has been included.” Flexibility in mind, the original structure had few interior walls, and tasks that now take place behind closed doors, such as cataloging and processing, occurred out in the open. Circulation had grown dramatically in the fifty years the Library spent in the Carnegie building; in 1907-08 the Library reported an annual circulation of 32,037 and a collection size of 10,059. By 1956-57, these figures had increased to 266,399 and 96,302, respectively, and in the fall the Library opened the doors of its new building to the public for the first time.