our history

The Monroe County Public Library is located just off the Courthouse Square in historic Monroeville, Alabama at 121 Pineville Road.  Since 1984, Monroe County’s largest publicly available collection of books has been housed here. This beautifully constructed library sits on the same property as the early twentieth-century's Commercial Hotel.  The original Commercial Hotel,  a wood-framed building, was demolished in 1939, when the current brick building was constructed.  In 1952, the newly rebuilt Commercial Hotel was sold and renamed The LaSalle Hotel. 

For about 27 years the building served as a popular hotel and restaurant, hosting families and dignitaries, alike.  In the early 1960s, Academy Award Winner, Gregory Peck, who portrayed Atticus Finch in “To Kill A Mockingbird” lodged in The LaSalle as he prepared for his role in this award-winning movie.   The movie was based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name. 

In 1979, The LaSalle Hotel building was purchased by  Dwight Harrigan who sold it to the Monroe County Library Board of Trustees in 1981 for far less than the appraised value at the time.  The building then had an appraised value of $229,000 and it was sold to the Trustees for only $125,000. 

Mr. Harrigan  generously donated the other $104,000 to the Library.  

Since 1984, for more than 35 years, the Monroe County Public Library has been in its current location on Pineville Road. 

The Library is listed in the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage and is recognized by the Alabama Historical Commission as worthy of preservation. Further, it is included in the Monroeville Downtown Historic District listed in The National Register of Historic Places 

along with sixty-two other neighboring structures.

The Monroe County Public Library was founded in 1927 and is a must-see landmark for all who visit "The Literary Capital of Alabama"  Monroeville, Alabama.