The fan-shaped building officially opened Aug. 4, 1903, with great fanfare. Fred Null's orchestra played and speeches were made. "The library is a dream in architectural beauty and a model in interior arrangement," according to a newspaper article recounting the affair. The new library was located at the foot of Brunson Hill, at the intersection of Sixth and Wall streets, opposite Bell's Opera House. One of the noted highlights of the building was that it had running water throughout. When it opened, the library had 3,500 books on the shelves. Even a decorous institution such as the public library has moments of controversy and excitement. In 1923, head librarian Theodosia Falkingham "on behalf of the women patrons" requested that the city remove the park seats outside the library because that area had become "a paradise for tobacco spitting loafers and a convenient place for alcoholic imbibing gentry to sleep off their jags." Also, "painted ladies" plied their trade in the area. The city complied with the request and a citizen composed a poem about the event. In 1924, Falkingham went before the City Commission to complain that the library only received $3,500 in financial support from the city, as opposed to $5,000 for the parks. She pointed out the library now had 9,000 books and a circulation of more than 60,000. This led to public approval of a millage to support the library. In 1928, a Hupmobile sedan parked on Brunson Hill went amok. The brake released and the car plunged down the hill and through a basement window in the library. No one was in the car or the library at the time, but the car was found in a vertical position, rear end up, on the Children's Room floor. It was "deja vu all over again" when a car again hit the building, and the flagpole, in 1951. The library responded to the community and the changing times over the years. A book drive for soldiers was conducted in 1942 to send books to soldiers serving in World War II. A book collection for "war time guidance" was created to help those on the home front deal with every day problems, such as rationing. Also that year, the library established a branch at Mercy Hospital to bring books and other materials to patients. Benton Township in 1963 contracted with the city for library service, discontinuing its own small library and arranging for bookmobile service. Then plans were made in the early and mid-1960s to build a new library building.