 While the building is no longer used as a library, its Richardsonian Romanesque design remains one of the city's architectural gems.The library was founded in 1884 as the Beaver Dam Free City Library and was housed in a room in City Hall.In April 1890, John J. Williams, a wealthy local businessman, offered the library's board of directors $25,000 to construct a new building if, in exchange, the city would pay for the land.