The Streator Public Library opened in 1903 and is one of the more than 1,600 public libraries Andrew Carnegie funded across the United States. The building is a small Beaux-Arts box in light brick and limestone, with paired Ionic columns flanking the entrance and a low dome over the reading room. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and remains in use as the town's main library.
Inside, the reading rooms keep much of their original character — high ceilings, oak woodwork, and stained glass over the staircase. The reference desk is happy to point visitors to the local history collection, which has good material on Streator's nineteenth-century glass industry and the coal boom that built the town.