At the time the library was formed, Woodstown was not a separate political entity. It was merely the town center of Pilesgrove Township.

In 1810, a mere 23 years after the ratification of the Constitution of the United States, a group of local men founded the Woodstown Library Company, which was incorporated 4 years later. At the time of its founding, The Woodstown Library was one of only 19 libraries in New Jersey

It was not a free library, open to the public. One had to purchase a share to be a member.

In 1845 the library was moved to the shop of William Pedrick who was also its librarian. Even in those early days there were problems with fines, overdue materials, and failure to pay the yearly fee and the library closed in 1852, not to reopen for eight years.

In 1859 one of the ladies of the town decided to step up to bring a library back to Woodstown. Mrs. Lavinia Townsend Reed taught history for a fee of $.10 per lesson to earn money to restart the library. In 9 months, she had saved up $48 in her library fund and proceeded to buy 80 volumes and a bookcase. By 1860 the Woodstown Library had been reestablished in the Town Hall. Membership was $1.00 per year to be a member of the Pilesgrove Library Association. Later the books were moved to the home of Dan Ware where he acted as the librarian.Between the years of 1860-1952 the library had many different homes. They include various stores, homes on Main Street and North Main Street, the Old Bank Building and Town Hall.

In 1952, Mr. Wm Richman made the association the gift of a double lot on the corner of East Ave and School Lane across from WHS. This gift was graciously accepted, and plans were begun for a fireproof building. and once plans were approved, the Pilesgrove Library Association began to raise funds for this new library building. The new building was completed in 1954 and ready for moving day. Volunteers moved over 16,000 volumes, plus equipment and supplies to the new building. The move took 2 weeks. An Open House on February 19, 1954. This is the building in which the library is located today.

The new library was free to the residents of Woodstown and Pilesgrove with a $5.00 annual fee for non-residents.

As we are still staffed almost entirely by volunteers our hours are still limited: 10 AM to Noon from Monday to Saturday2:30 to 4:30 and 7 PM to 8 PM from Monday through Thursday.

While we receive donations from our two municipalities, they cover far less than our approximately $50,000 annual budget. It is those who volunteer their time and participate in our annual fund drive that make the Woodstown- Pilesgrove Library possible. We are considered a miracle by the NJ State Library that we can provide such a depth of library services. Our motto is: We do a lot with a little. It is the volunteer spirit of the citizens of Woodstown and Pilesgrove that makes that our library possible.