The Lewiston City Library was founded in 1901 by the women of the Tsceminicum Club, who wrote to Andrew Carnegie requesting funding to build a public library for the citizens of Lewiston. Carnegie responded and with a commitment from the city to maintain the library after its completion, the Carnegie Library was built on the present site of Pioneer Park, where the building still stands. A second location, the Tsceminicum Library, was opened in 1973 on Thain Road where it remained until 2013, even after the original Carnegie Library closed in 1999.
With the need for a larger space, the Lewiston City Library Foundation and the Lewiston City Council began raising funds in 2007 for a new library. They decided on a building on the corner of 5th and D street in Historical Downtown Lewiston where the library sits today.