2000-2004

During the early 2000s, the library board and staff identified needs for a new facility. These included a new Young Adult Department, a Visual and Performing Arts Gallery, and an expanded Kansas Room. The Ellis County Commission warmly offered their land and in April 2001 the city voted to approve a sales tax for library improvements. The HPL Trust formed in 2000 to finance improvements and large-scale endeavors. The library raised $700,000 in private donations for a Carnegie Library replication exterior. Construction of the addition began on June 1, 2002, followed by renovation of the 1968 facility’s first and second floors. The grand opening of the newly renovated and expanded Hays Public Library took place on February 14, 2004.