The City of St. Helena has a long history of public support for library service. As early as 1875 there was movement underway to establish a library. The current building at 1492 Library Lane was constructed in 1979 and named for a much loved local physician, Dr. George Wood and his wife, Elsie. The Woods were also major donors and long time supporters of the library.

The library currently houses over 75,000 books, DVD’s, books on CD, CDs, newspapers, magazines, microfilm and other media. Also part of the library collection is the Napa Valley Wine Library, consisting of some 3,500 titles and over 6,000 items. The world famous Silverado Museum is housed in a wing of the Library Building.