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On May 13, 1889, seven men met in the City Hall office of Mayor Orestes Cleveland to organize the first free public library for Jersey City. With 15,515 books in stock and with no fanfare, the new library opened on July 6, 1891, in rented, gas lit rooms in two adjacent bank buildings on Washington Street near York.

Throughout the 1890s the trustees acquired land at Jersey Avenue and Montgomery Street, hired a supervising architect, Professor A.D.F.Hamlin of Columbia University, and announced a design competition. The architectural firm of Brite and Bacon of New York was selected, and, on August 16, 1899, the cornerstone was set in place. On January 14, 1901 the new building, today's main library, was dedicated.

Now in its second century of service to the people of Jersey City the Library has automated its catalog and its circulation procedures. Through the online catalog, patrons can search the collection from their homes as well as from a growing number of onsite computer terminals.The library held the Grand Opening of its first new branch built since 1962, the Glenn D. Cunningham Branch Library & Community Center, on Tuesday, August 17, 2004, with its doors opening to the public the next day to serve the M.L.K. redevelopment area.