 The library was established in 1892 as the first use of an 1892 Ohio law that allowed municipalities under 5,000 residents to tax residents for library support.Initially, the library was housed in a downtown Kent business block.Pittsburgh steel industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie offered the then-village of Kent $11,500 for construction of a permanent home for the library in 1901, contingent on a suitable location and voter approval of a tax levy for maintenance.