The women of Nashville’s civic clubs founded Cooley Library in 1942 and the Alston Street facility was built in 1971. The library was housed in the Alston Street facility until extensive flooding forced it to move in July 2004. The library moved to a temporary location at 501 S. Barnes St., in the back of the Police Department. In October of 2007, the library made a final move to its permanent home at 114 W. Church Street.

The library was dedicated to Congressman Harold Dunbar Cooley, a Nashville, North Carolina, native and a U.S. Congressman from 1934 until 1966. Mr. Cooley made extensive contributions to the field of agriculture by serving as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee from 1949 to 1966. He was also instrumental in the nation’s farming program by his key role in the development of the Farmers Home Administration, the Soil Conservation Service, the Crop Insurance Program, the Tobacco Program as well as the Wheat and Cotton Programs, numerous farm bills, preparation and passage of soil conservation legislation, the Federal Crop Insurance Program, and the Food for Freedom Act. For his extensive contributions to farming and agriculture, the North Carolina Farm Bureau, the North Carolina State Grange, and the Progressive Farmer honored Mr. Cooley with Man of the Year Awards.