She was encouraged to proceed and in a short time she had the names of twenty-five persons who were willing to subscribe for the named amount. Books and periodicals were purchased and donated by clubs, churches and individuals. Mrs. Allen did not relax her efforts and when she heard that Andrew Carnegie might be interested in helping to establish a library in Downs, she prevailed upon Mayor H. H. Welty to write to Mr. Carnegie. A grant of $5,000 was made on January 28, 1905, for the construction of a library. The city agreed to provide ten percent of this amount each year for operations. The library was built at the south end of Morgan Avenue and dedicated on February 27, 1906.

There have been many who gave of their time and resources to keep the library going through those eighty years from the dedication until now. The librarians that served through those years are as follows: Mrs. D.E. Allen, Mrs. Florence Pheasant, Mrs. Mabel Doak, Mrs. Imogene Shearer, Mrs. Mildred Schreiber, Mrs. Beatrice Friday, Mrs. Doris Martin, Mrs. Phil McClosky, and Mrs. Marti Wagner.

Over the years the Central Kansas Library System has been a great help in the growth of the library .

In 1984 the Downs Carnegie Library became an Area Library with over ten thousand books on its shelves. Also in 1984 and 1985 a general renovation of the building was done. This was accomplished by the generous gifts from estates of several patrons. In 1986, the Downs Carnegie Library became a member of KIC, the Kansas Information Circuit, thus providing expanded services to many patrons.