By 1937 the book collection had grown and larger quarters were needed. In 1938 rent -free rooms in the Keagey Building were offered by Mrs. Charles Keagey and in 1940 the city council agreed to furnish rooms in the front part of the city building basement for the library and to put the issue of tax support for the library on the ballot. The vote was favorable and the library became a unit of the city government.

In June of 1957, the entire book collection and records of the library were destroyed by the devastating flood which covered the downtown area of Ellis with several feet of water. With the help from libraries across the state and financial credit from book publishers, the book collection was slowly replenished. The library reopened within a few weeks in temporary quarters in the City Hall Auditorium. In 1958 the library moved again, this time to the room in the rear of the City Hall basement.

A building fund had been established and with the money collected during the fund drive, the library board purchased the Post Office Building in May of 1984. When the building was vacated in March of 1986, the renovation and remodeling of the interior was begun at once. The moving day was set for September 12, 1986. The books were moved with a human chain and in six hours all the books were on the shelves of the new library.

The modern library is quite an addition to downtown Ellis. The reality of a new library was made possible by contributions from the Ellis Community and also former Ellisites. After several years of negative happenings in our town - this is certainly a positive happening. It is an example of what can take place when people work together.