The Library was founded and first sponsored by the Thursday Club, a “group of women bound together for study and literary reviews.”  On November 1, 1898, the Gallipolis Public Library, located in the Lupton block on Second Avenue, opened its doors.    In 1903, the Board of Public Library Trustees was formed.  The first act of the board of trustees was to “accept the lot on the southeast corner of Third Avenue and State Street as a site for the Library”.  This new Carnegie Library, pictured above in later years, was completed in 1905.    In 1947, the Library Board of Trustees voted that a county district Library be established to serve Gallia County.  In 1978, the Board of Trustees met at the new site of the Library, a former warehouse located at 641 Second Ave., and resolved to change the name of the Library building to the Dr. Samuel L. Bossard Memorial Library, in honor of the donor.  Due to a demand for increased services, an addition to the Library was completed in 1991.   In 2015, the addition of the Library’s Riverside Room was completed to accommodate the growth of Library programs offered to the community. 

Today, the Library proudly serves as the community center of Gallia County.

For more information on programs and services, visit bossardlibrary.org.