Nicholas P. Sims Library and Lyceum

Mission

The Nicholas P. Sims Library and Lyceum is committed to serving, supporting and educating our community by providing convenient and effective access to high quality library services, collections in a variety of formats, and information resources designed to meet the needs of our community.

History

The Library was built on land given to the city of Waxahachie by its first Mayor, Captain W. H. Getzendaner. The Library opened on April 26, 1905 and was one of the first ten public libraries in Texas and certainly one of the first privately owned libraries.

During the latter half of the 20th century, the Library expanded to provide additional wings, accommodating the extensive collections for children and adults. The Library provides a variety of library services and programs for all ages, as well as an extensive collection of materials, both print and electronic. The Library currently houses over 140,000 books, magazines, newspapers, audio and visual materials, as well as microfilm and limited access collections.