The rustic classical appearance of this Carnegie Library is unusual. The library is built of rusticated limestone, with smooth-faced stone for the entablature and the entrance portal’s pediment. Windows and spandrels are set in tall, vertical recesses in the rough stone walls, creating a modulated wall but without pilasters or other classical devices. A tall, stepped gable contains three small arched windows. The library was designed as a one-story building by the Reverend J. D. Leslie, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. When construction began, however, a second-floor auditorium was added. This meeting space made the building the social center of Ballinger for many years, accommodating lectures and concerts on the Chautauqua circuit. Only four of the original thirty-two Carnegie libraries in Texas remain in use as libraries.