The library was begun in 1913 with a small donation of books. In 1914 an election was held and the library became an independent special district with an elected board of trustees. The library had the ability to set a tax rate for support. In July, 1985, the library was dissolved as a special district and became a department of the City of Yorba Linda; the Board became an advisory commission appointed by the City Council. The library retained its percentage of the local property tax as a continued means of support and currently receives 86% of its revenue from this property tax allocation.

Print and nonprint materials are selected by professional librarians and reflect the needs and requests of the community as well as professional standards for maintaining a well rounded collection.

The library has a collection of over 122,000 books, 4,200 videocassettes, 6,000 audio materials and subscriptions to 250 magazines. Many special resources as well as thousands of magazine articles are available through the library's local area network and online public catalog.

Regular hours are: Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The library is closed on Sunday.