Our mission is to fulfill the informational, educational, recreational and cultural needs of our entire community.

The idea of a library for the city of Derby came up in 1957. By mid-1958 the library had become a reality and opened in two rooms in the back of City Hall. Just two years later, the library moved to a new home on North Baltimore. The library had a couple more homes over the next 30 years, before moving into its location where City Hall currently stands on Mulberry. On Nov. 14, 2009, the library opened the doors at its current location at 1600 E Walnut Grove, just around the corner from City Hall.

Here are some firsts for the library:

• 1970: started loaning 16mm films
• 1985: a new IBM computer was purchased to help expedite interlibrary loans
• 1996: Derby was the first library in Sedgwick County to provide public Internet access
• 2006: Playaways were added to the library collection