 The library received nearly 9,000 books in 1900 from the estate of John Wilson; many of these were rare books.However, the bequest called for the books to be available free of charge to the public, thus the board voted to provide library services to the public under government contract.In 1901, the state passed a law to allow governments to tax citizens to pay for libraries; the legislation had been advanced primarily by the newly organized State Federation of Women's Clubs.