Cooke County Library
🏢 Cooke County · Gainesville, Texas
Cooke County Library
Rooted in a 123-year tradition of community learning, the Cooke County Library carries forward the pioneering legacy of Lillian Gunter — the Gainesville librarian who wrote the Texas County Free Library Law — serving North Texas families with books, digital resources, and programs from its 1963 building on South Weaver Street.
🕑 Library Hours
| Monday | 8:30am–5:30pm |
| Tuesday | 9am–7pm |
| Wednesday | 8:30am–5:30pm |
| Thursday | 8:30am–5:30pm |
| Friday | 8:30am–5:30pm |
| Saturday | 10am–2pm |
| Sunday | Closed |
Hours may vary on holidays; check the library site before visiting.
📍 Location, Contact & Directions
Address: 200 S. Weaver Street, Gainesville, TX 76240
Phone: (940) 668-5530
Website: cookecountylibrary.org
Plus Code: 8654JVF2+7V (Gainesville, TX)
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👋 Use the Library Online
📖 About Cooke County Library
The Cooke County Library traces its origins to 1899, when members of the XLI Club, a Gainesville literary society, established a subscription library with a $1 annual membership fee. A donated collection from the club opened the city's first free public library in 1903. Lillian Gunter, who joined the XLI Club and directed the library for a decade, championed a Carnegie Foundation grant that resulted in a dedicated library building opening on October 10, 1914 — now home to the Butterfield Stage Players. Recognizing that rural county residents deserved the same access as city patrons, Gunter authored and lobbied through the Texas County Free Library Law, which passed in 1919 and remains operative today. The Cooke County Library system was formally established on January 11, 1921 — the first in Texas created by citizen petition under the new law — and at its peak served 82 branch libraries and bookmobile routes across the county. The current building at 200 S. Weaver Street, designed by architects Pond and Bellamy of Wichita Falls, opened June 29, 1963, and continues to serve as the county's central library.
⭐ What makes this library special
- Founded in 1903 from the XLI Club subscription library — one of the oldest public library roots in North Texas
- Lillian Gunter, its founding county director, authored the 1919 Texas County Free Library Law that remains the legal foundation for all Texas county libraries today
- First county library system in Texas established by citizen petition (January 11, 1921), under the new law Gunter championed
- Partnered with the University of North Texas to digitize over 9,000 issues of the Gainesville Daily Register (1915–1956) — searchable free on the Portal to Texas History
- Full TexShare member: Libby eBooks, Kanopy streaming, Freegal Music+, TexShare research databases, and mobile hotspot checkout — all free with a library card
📱 Digital Resources — Free with Your Library Card
Cooke County cardholders access books, music, films, and research databases free through TexShare and the library's own digital collection:
📚 Services
- 5 adult computers and 7 in-library laptops (1-hour sessions, twice daily); 2 computers for children and teens
- Wi-Fi available inside the building and in the parking lot (network: CCPL)
- Mobile hotspot checkout — 14-day loan periods with unlimited high-speed data
- Printing (black-and-white $0.20/page; color $0.50/page), copying, scanning, and fax services
- Meeting room available for community use by reservation
- Curbside pickup during all operating hours
- Interlibrary loan via TexShare member network
- Texas Talking Book Program referrals for patrons unable to read standard print
- Free library card for Cooke County residents; digital card available online
🎸 Programs
- Weekly Children's Classes — Tuesdays at 10:30am and 2:30pm (stories, songs, and crafts for ages 0–5)
- 1, 2, 3 The Story Is Coming to Me — outreach storytimes at local childcare centers and schools
- Chess Club — Thursdays 3–5pm for ages 7–17 (drop-in, no registration required)
- MahJong Lessons — certified instructor, beginners welcome (seasonal; signup required)
- Across the Pages Book Club — monthly evening meetings including Hispanic Heritage Month programming
- Zooper Reads — literacy event partnership with Frank Buck Zoo
- 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten — reading milestone program for families
- Kiwanis Park StoryWalk — outdoor picture-book trail at a local park
- Summer Reading Program — annual reading challenge for all ages (June–July)
- Art in the Stacks, Literary LEGOs, and STEM'd Up classes for school-age children
📍 Nearby Libraries in North Texas
Distances are approximate straight-line miles from this library.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Lillian Gunter, and what did she accomplish at the Cooke County Library?
Lillian Gunter (1870–1926) was a Gainesville native and XLI Club member who built the city's subscription library into a Carnegie-funded public library, which opened in 1914. Recognizing that Texas had no legal framework to create county-wide free library service, she studied county library systems in New York and California at her own expense and then drafted legislation with the help of Cooke County representative George W. Dayton. After an initial 1917 law was overturned by the courts, her persistent advocacy produced the Texas County Free Library Law of 1919 — a statute that remains operative today and underpins every county public library in Texas. She served as president of the Texas Library Association (1918–19), co-founded the Southwestern Library Association in 1922, and directed the Cooke County Library system until her death on October 10, 1926.
What makes the Cooke County Library significant in Texas library history?
When the Cooke County Library was formally established on January 11, 1921, it became the first county library system in Texas created by citizen petition under the 1919 County Free Library Law — the law that Cooke County's own head librarian, Lillian Gunter, had written and lobbied through the legislature. At its peak, the system operated 82 branch libraries and bookmobile routes, bringing free library service to farms and small communities across the county. The original 1914 Carnegie building that served as its headquarters now houses the Butterfield Stage Players and Arts Council; the current library building at 200 S. Weaver Street opened June 29, 1963.
Can I access historical Gainesville newspaper archives through the library?
Yes. The Cooke County Library has partnered with the University of North Texas on multiple TexTreasures Grants to digitize thousands of issues of the Gainesville Daily Register spanning 1915–1923 and 1936–1956 — more than 9,000 issues currently online. These are freely searchable on the Portal to Texas History (texashistory.unt.edu), no library card required. The library's physical local-history collection also includes the Cooke County Bibliography (1985) and 262 historical manuscripts.
What digital resources can I use at home with a Cooke County Library card?
With a card you can borrow eBooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines through Libby (OverDrive), stream films and documentaries on Kanopy, download or stream music through Freegal Music+ (over 18 million tracks, no ads), browse over 100,000 digital titles through Freading, and search the full TexShare Database suite — magazine and journal articles, encyclopedias, and subject databases. You can also check out a mobile hotspot for unlimited high-speed internet for up to 14 days. Call (940) 668-5530 or visit cookecountylibrary.org for card registration.
🖨 This library offers printing, copying & fax. See how library printing, copying, scanning and fax services work — costs and mobile printing — and find other libraries that offer them printing & fax by state.
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✓ Hours & details last verified from official sources in September 2026.
