History of the Toppenish Library

Interest in a public library for the city of Toppenish began as early as May 1910 when private citizen Mrs. Mary L Goodrich offered the Toppenish Commercial Club “gratis without cost” seventy volumes of fiction plus a number of other titles. In 1921, the City of Toppenish passed an ordinance to establish a permanent city library. The library opened in August 1922, financed with only $750.00. The collection consisted of books donated by Mrs. Goodrich plus other works accumulated after 1910.

Over the years the library was housed in many different buildings around Toppenish. In 1954, the City of Toppenish purchased the current building from the Yakama Indian Nation for the library's permanent home.

The Mary L. Goodrich Toppenish Library joined the Yakima Valley Regional Library System in 1980, then annexed in 2001 when city budget cuts threatened to close the library indefinitely.

For more information regarding the history of the Mary L. Goodrich Toppenish Library, see the book The First 50, 1922-1972: Story of a library by Richard Delaney, available at the Toppenish Library.