Elkhart Public Library first opened Oct. 2, 1903, and counted 7,793 books within a year. Today, the number of physical items inside the five locations is nearly 400,000 – books, movies, music and more.

The library moved from its Carnegie home to the current downtown spot at Second and High streets in 1963. The Martin Foundation, founded by Esther and Ross Martin of NIBCO Inc., financed the $1 million project.

Branch locations started opening in 1975, and the library started going digital in 1989 with a computerized catalog. In 1997, Elkhart Public Library launched its first web page. Branches received significant renovations and expansion in 2020-22.

An historical marker for playwright Charles Gordone, an Elkhart native who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1970, is outside the downtown location on Second Street. Around the corner on High Street, a marker remembers the accomplishments of Emma Barrett Molloy, a trailblazing writer and suffragist.