The first "regularly organized systematically conducted public library" opened on September 13, 1900 in Alliance High School. The library was open from 2-5 p.m. Books could be checked out for 2 weeks and renewed for an additional 2 weeks by any resident of Alliance.
Alliance High School was originally Alliance College. The building was designed by Simeon Porter, the designer of Chapman Hall at Mount Union College. It was built in the late 1860s on East Broadway and demolished in 1910 to make room for a new high school next to the Carnegie Library building.