The first library in Shirlington (then called Fairlington) was established in 1947 at 2780 South Randolph Street – rented quarters in the Shirlington Trust Building.

After expanding in 1952 and again in 1955, the County broke ground on a new Shirlington Library building in July 1962, at 2700 South Arlington Mill Drive.

Plans for the current location were approved in late 2000, and in 2001 the building on Arlington Mill Drive was razed and the Shirlington Library moved to a temporary storefront location in the lower section of the Village at Shirlington. This interim location was to have stayed open until the new building’s completion. However, a flood in the restaurant above closed the library for good in November 2006.

The new Library, at 4200 Campbell Ave, opened in 2007 and offers three times the space of Shirlington Library’s last temporary home.