The Town of Ballston Community Library was founded in the early 1950's by the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Women's Club and the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Rotary.

The Library's mission is, "to provide to all individuals in the local community educational, cultural, and informational connections to the past, present and future. The library will build, maintain, and provide access to a multi-media collection that will be responsive to the changing needs of all persons for self-education, personal enrichment, and recreation. In the pursuit of this mission, the library will provide appropriate facilities, resources, and services that will promote knowledge and use of the Community Library."

The Library's first home was in the basement of Our Lady of Grace Church rectory in Ballston Lake. In 1957, construction of a small library building began on land donated by local resident Earl Townley and his estate on the corner of Lakehill Road & Lawmar Lane in Burnt Hills.

The Library is operated by the Town of Ballston as a special district within the Town. The Library also contracts to provide library services to Town of Charlton residents. The Library is governed by a Board of seven Trustees who are appointed by the Town of Ballston.

Use of the Library continued to grow. As more space was needed, the basement was utilized as the Children's Room. In 1980, the original Cape Cod style building was expanded, but still had less than 5000 square feet, its current space.

With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, major alterations were necessary to meet the legal requirements for access by disabled persons. Also, the library is in need of more space for shelving, space for quiet study, meetings and continued technological improvements to appropriately meet the needs of a growing community.

In the summer of 1996, the Library was awarded a federal Library Services and Construction Act grant of $48,590.00 and a New York State grant of $13,456.00, both for ADA compliance. In December 1997, town residents voted to borrow nearly a million dollars to build a new library. During 1998 town officials explored sites for the new building. The purchase of additional land from bordering Calvary Episcopal Church allowed the library's current site to be expanded and will enable the Town to construct the new library at its present location.