The Kent Public Library owes a debt of gratitude to the enthusiastic volunteers who worked tirelessly in pursuit of a community library for the residents of Kent. Starting in the early 1960s, Wilma Baker and a group of dedicated volunteers organized meetings, petitions, letter writing campaigns, rummage sales, membership drives, book sales, and dances in order to establish a library for the town of Kent. These volunteers founded the Kent Literary Association on May 24, 1963.

The first Kent Public Reading Room was a part of Edna Stadler’s Curio Shop in Lake Carmel on Chauncey Road and moved to share a building with Gladys Boalt’s Fabric and Crafts Shop on Smadbeck Road (now Rt. 52). On May 25, 1967, the association was granted a provisional charter by the Education Department of the State of New York as the Kent Free Public Library. The library purchased the other half of the building on Smadbeck Road on August 24, 1972. On September 26, 1987, by unanimous vote of the Kent Town Board, the library changed its status from an association library to a town public library, effective January 1, 1988.

In July, 2001, the residents of the Town of Kent voted to build a new town center, including a new library building. The town center buildings were completed in November 2004. The Kent Public Library is currently located at 17 Sybil’s Crossing, sharing the Kent Town Center with the Town Hall building and Police Department.