History of the Library

History of the Coppell Public Library

In 1974, a former city council member named Bob Hefner donated 3,000 books and with the help of some volunteers turned an old house at 561 N. Coppell Road into a library. The Quiet Room in our current location is named after him. The first Coppell library, staffed by volunteers, was open for 12 hours per week (an average of 2 hours per day) as it was closed on Sundays.

First Library at 561 N Coppell Rd.

Eventually, the old house did not have enough space for the growing number of books ─ more than 10,000. In 1986, the library moved to the second floor of Town Center and was named William T. Cozby. As the number of items, library services, and the number of library patrons began to grow along with the population of Coppell, architects were hired to design a new library.

In 1995, a new building was built in the library’s current location at 177 N. Heartz Rd. At the time there were approximately 44,000 books. 

Drawing of the completion of the new library at 177 N Heartz Rd

In 2015, the library underwent a huge renovation, during which time, staff was temporarily housed at the old fire administration building at 500 Southwestern Blvd. In October of 2016, staff was able to move back to the new 34,00 sq ft renovated building. The name was also changed to Cozby Library and Community Commons to honor our past while looking to the needs of our community. The library currently circulates approximately 510,000 items of which approximately 83,000 is digital. 

William T. Cozby

William Trindle Cozby was born in Coppell in 1908. He was a soldier in WWII after which he lived in California for a while. In 1950, he moved back to Coppell to be near to his mom. A few years later, he became the 2nd mayor of the city for a period of 12 years. During his time in Coppell, he had many achievements for the city, a few of which was getting Lone Star Gas to supply gas to Coppell as they were using the city’s easement. He was also instrumental in getting the DFW airport in the vicinity of Coppell, and in preserving the Bethel Cemetery. 

One of the accomplishments he is most remembered for is securing money for Coppell’s first fire truck. It cost $15,000, and he personally drove it back from New York city where it was purchased. He made such a significant impact on the development of city that Coppell’s library was named after him.