In May 1965 the Plano City Council passed an ordinance establishing a municipal library and appointed a Board of Trustees. Two years later a bond election passed providing funds for library construction. On June 2, 1969 the 10,000 square feet Gladys Harrington Library opened with a collection of 15,033 volumes. The library is named in recognition of Gladys Harrington and the Federation of Church Women of Plano who set up the first lending library in the Plano Community House in 1955. Ground was broken in July 1993 for the 20,000-square-foot Harrington Library expansion. The library re-opened in August 1994 with its current size of 30,000 square feet.