The Elwood Public Library serves more than 8,000 residents in the city of Elwood, a city in Madison and Tipton counties in the state of Indiana. The Elton Public Library started as early as 1898 when a small private library owned by the International Library Association with a selected book list was maintained at the Fitzwillians Building. During the meeting of the committee of the International Library Association, the need for a free public library came up, and so a temporary organization was formed to establish and materialize it. In 1899, after it was turned over to the city, the library, a small room in the O’Brien building, was opened to the public with 1,150 books and 12 magazines. Today, Elwood is now the central library of the North Madison County Public Library with two other branches, with a total aggregate collection of more than 90,000 books and serial volumes and almost 200,000 annual circulations.