This Boydton, Virginia library location originated due to a generous individual donation from Diplomat David K. E. Bruce during the Great Depression. He credited his success to a love of books and believed good books should be available to rural communities. Southside Virginia had few libraries at that time. There was a tiny library in Chase City, located in a second floor store front with books requested from the state library and kept for several months at a time to create a small collection. Bruce built upon efforts like these and gave almost $400,000 to construct 11 libraries complete with furnishings, equipment, their own comprehensive collections, and a certified librarian in selected Virginia county seats between 1937 and 1942. Among those libraries was the one that opened in Boydton in 1939.

Today this vintage building serves not only as a public library for the Boydton area (and is the only Bruce library that still operates as such) but also serves as the administrative headquarters of the Southside Regional Library System.