Šilalė’s district library was established in 1937. The head of the library was Albinas Monstvila, a primary school teacher. The number of books in the library at the beginning is unknown, but according to the recollections of the locals, at the beginning of 1940 the library had about 1000 volumes.

From 1937 to 1938 the library did not receive any periodicals. Later, the library of Šilalė’s volost (a traditional administrative subdivision used in Lithuania from the 14^th century until 1940) began receiving famous periodicals such as „Lietuvos aidas“(Echo of Lithuania), „Karys“(Soldier), „Židinys“(Blaze) and newspapers in Yiddish. In the first year there were 39 readers, who borrowed 1290 books.

On the 1^st of December 1938, Kazys Juozapaitis became the head of the library, but on the 30th of November, 1940, Pranas Didoras became the new head of the library.

As the war started in 1941, the library burned down. The only books that survived were those in the possession of the readers. Through the efforts of the then director, Pranas Didoras, the library managed to collect a few hundred books. It was not until September 1945 that the library reopened its doors to the public. The reconstruction conditions were very harsh. They didn't have proper facilities, books or specialists. Above all, they didn't have anyone to organise all the work that had to be done in the difficult and complicated post-war period.

Every year the number of readers increased. In 1945 there were only 30 people using the library, in 1948 there were 119 and in 1950 there were 223 readers. As the number of readers grew, so did the number of books lent out. In 1945 the number of books lent out was 180, and by 1950 it had skyrocketed to 5103.

In 1950 Šilalė's library became the district library. The collection of books grew, as did the number of readers. The number of employees also increased: in 1951 - 2, in 1953 - 3, in 1958 - 4. In September 1953 the first readers' conference was held.

In 1956 the first specialist librarian Agota Andrijauskaitė-Juškienė became the head of the library and held this position until 1961. From 1961 to 1965 the head of the library was Juzefa Zonytė.

From 1945 to 1957 the library was located in a single room. Only the book collections could fit into it. In 1958 the library got another room where the reading room was opened.

In 1960, 2240 readers (69% of the population) used the library's services. From 1965 to 1977 the head of the library was Ona Budrienė.

From 1965 to 1976 the number of readers in Šilalė’s district library slowly dwindled, however the number of lent out books grew to 39938. The library collection consisted of 23548 different books. The district library also provided methodological support to 44 village libraries.

In 1977 the library network was centralised on a county-wide scale. The district library was reorganised into a central library with 32 branches in the villages (12 non-viable libraries were closed). The departments operating in the central library were: methodology, book compilation and restoration, (book collection storage and backup sector of trade), reader services (work with youth), bibliographical - informational, children's literature, economic and technical. The head of the district library was Liucė Lukošiutė - Montvilienė. In 1978 the library had 21 employees.

In 1982 Aldona Daukšaitė – Jankauskienė became the head of the library. At the same time, the library started allocating a lot of its time to developing the culture of reading among its readers.

In 1985, the library had one employee with a university degree in librarianship, 24 employees with special librarian training, 2 employees studying at the VVU and 3 at the Vilnius Cultural School. For a few months in that year, Danutė Mockaitytė - Petkuvienė was the head of the library, but at the end of 1985, Ona Naujokaitė - Bajorinienė took over.

In 1987, the Central Library celebrated its 50th anniversary. In that year the library was managed by Virginija Raštutienė.

After the reorganisation in 1992, the library became the town library, the branches were part of the cultural department and the head of the library was Donata Litvinienė.

In 1997 the library became the public library of Šilalė district with 26 branches in the villages. In the same year the library celebrated its 60th anniversary.

In 2002 an unprofitable branch in Balsiai was closed.

In January 2003, Zita Lazdauskienė became the head of the library. In April, Stasys Aužbikas took over, and from July of 2003 Kostas Mačionis was the head of the library.

The 70^th anniversary was celebrated by the library in 2007.

From December of 2010 the head of the library was Astutė Noreikienė.

At present, Šilalė Municipal Public Library is a budgetary institution of cultural education and information, which collects, cares for and stores prints and other documents (manuscripts, audio, visual, electronic, etc.), systemises and disseminates the information contained in them. The library also collects and stores regional studies.

The founder of the library is the Šilalė District Municipal Council, which establishes, reorganises and liquidates the library in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Lithuania.

The library currently has 25 village branches. The village branches carry out the functions assigned to public libraries and are under the authority of the head of the public library.

In order to ensure a high quality of services, taking into account the needs of the consumers and the spread of new information technologies, all the main services of the library have been digitalised: filing and accounting of documents, customer relations and bookkeeping. Library users are served electronically. Since 2000, the Public Library has been a member of LIBIS (Lithuanian Integral Information System of Libraries), and on 1 January 2006, the subsystem LIBIS Reader Services was introduced. Now all readers of the Public Library receive a universal library card, which is valid throughout Lithuania.

In 2009, the Public Library launched the "Bibliotekos pažangai" (Library Development) project. As a result of this project, the entire Public Library and its branches were digitised. This project completely changed the services provided by the library and its effectiveness.

In 2011, the public library network in Šilalė didn't really change: the public library and its 24 village branches were operational. Three of them - Pajūralis, Obelynas and Žadeikiai branches - are located in primary school buildings.

A user registration and statistics system was implemented in six branches of the public library to facilitate the collection of data on the use of computers by visitors using the free public Internet.

The library and village branches organised computer literacy and Internet use classes for the citizens of Šilalė district. 237 citizens were trained.

In 2011, the public library website was launched.This gave the library the opportunity to publish and share relevant information in a digital way, thus becoming a modern source of information and news.

In 2012, the Library celebrated its 75th anniversary. In the same year, the Šilalė region was presented for the first time at the famous Vilnius Book Fair.Vincas Laurinatis' monograph 'Dionizas Poška', published by the Šilalė Public Library, was presented for the first time at the 'Litexpo' Exhibition and Congress Centre, where the 13th International Book Fair was held, dedicated to the 200th anniversary of D. Poška and the Baubliai Museum.

In recent years, about 26.4% of the district's population has used the library's services. This is higher than the national average.

In 2013, a book of recipes from the culinary heritage of Šilalė region was published under the title "Pasmuokavuok, kap skane" (Taste how delicious it is). For the 8^th time, the Europe Day celebration was held in the town of Šilalė.

After a few years of stagnation, the renovation of the library faculties was resumed. The branch in Šiauduva village moved to the newly renovated premises.The Traksėdis and Bilioniai branches were renovated.The Girdiškės branch moved to a more spacious location.

The library started organising a quiz game called "Europrotai" (European Wisdom). It was a great success. Hundreds of Šilalė residents take part in the quiz. Other events organised by the library are also a hit: book presentations, meetings with famous people, exhibitions of artists' works, etc.

Librarians have started to take on new roles and become more recognised. They are becoming counsellors, operators, photographers, teachers, scriptwriters and presenters of events.

In recent years, Šilalė's District Municipal Public Library has been planning to expand its range of services by focusing more on new IT technologies, thus reducing the gap between people and new digital information technologies. This will be achieved by providing free internet access, regular computer literacy classes, virtual cultural events - live streams, robotics classics and the use of the newly created interactive education room.

In the library there are creative, engineering and programming kits, consisting of 26 programmes and devices, which can be freely used by all citizens of Šilalė district. They consist of 3D printers, graphic tablets for creating various designs, scanners for digitising negatives and photos, game consoles, etc.

The library has also set up a puzzle room, which is updated every year.

Did you know, that…

1. The library was established in 1937, making it one of the oldest establishments in Šilalė.
2. The first library was located in the place, where now, stands the first monument for March 11^th named „Laisvės šauklys“(Herald of Freedom).
3. The current head of the library Sauga Vaičikauskienė is the 17^th head. She has held this position since 2023.
4. 175 000 – that’s the approximate number of books that make up the current collection of books held by the library and its 23 branches, while the first library had only a thousand.
5. The library of Šilalė and its branches currently have over 5000 readers, which exceeds the current population of Šilalė itself.
6. The library of Šilalė is home to a collection of materials pertaining to sixty-two renowned individuals from the region, including Aleksandras Stulginskis, Stasys Girėnas, Jurgis Kairys, Dionizas Poška, Kazimieras Jaunius and Norbertas Vėlius amonst others.
7. The oldest newspaper in the Šilalė district, entitled "Šilalės artojas" ("Šilalė's plower"), was first published in 1951 and its archive is available at the local library.
8. Conveniently located adjacent to the library is a functional mobile book return post and a book taking shelf that facilitates the 24-hour retrieval and return of literature.
9. Šilalė's library has pioneered the organisation of quizzes and trivia nights in the Šilalė district, with evidence suggesting that the inaugural trivia event occurred in Šilalė approximately four decades ago.
10. The Šilalė library has published a collection of over 100 traditional regional recipes, entitled "Pasmuokavuok, kap skane" ("Have a taste, how delicious it is"). This compendium features a dish that has gained notoriety on a national scale: "Meškuos šūduks" ("bear poop")
11. The library has also installed an escape room, a pioneering feature in the realm of library design.
12. Šilalė’s library has a children section that also houses a toybrary (toy library).
13. In the Šilalė’s library and its branches there are approximately 150 computers, meant for both the staff and the visitors.
14. The library has an interactive space, equipped with a virtual reality set, driving simulator, Xbox console, 3D printer, Lego constructions and more.
15. In 2021, the library was recognized as the most innovative in the country (nomination was established by Lithuania’s municipalities public library association)
16. Šilalė’s library has created the first interactive educational game called „Skrydis per Šilalę“(a flight over Šilalė), and also made an augmented reality orienteering game-mobile app called „Aplankyk Šilalę“ (visit Šilalė).
17. The library has a book exchange shelf, where visitors can exchange books with one another free of charge.
18. The library holds subscriptions to 8 newspapers and 21 magazines, which anyone can read for free in the periodicals reading room.
19. The library has implemented the culture pass service: the little ones are taught the subtleties of table service, robotics and Lego building activities are being organized.
20. On the roof of the library lives artist’s Andrius Zaikauskas first ever work of art – a sculpture of a little acorn.