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 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 March of 2015, a 5,500 square foot addition was added to allow for continued growth of library programming.
LIBRARY DIRECTORS OF THE
GALLIA COUNTY DISTRICT LIBRARY
DR. SAMUEL L. BOSSARD MEMORIAL LIBRARY
who have been instrumental in the development and growth
of library services in Gallia County
Addie Vanden 1895-1929
Margaret Davis 1929-1943
Ruth Baldwin 1943-1944
Sylvia Taylor 1944-1945
Nellie Glass 1946-1947
Ruth Bradley 1947-1948
Janet Gregg 1948-1952
Chap Parsons 1952-1956
Lawrence Huber 1957-1966
Kate Foster 1966-1968
Jonathan E. Louden 1968-1993
Sybil Galer 1993-1996
Betty Clarkson 1996-2007
Debbie Saunders 2008-present