The public library is established by the local government to ensure access to knowledge, information, lifelong learning and is available to all members of the community, regardless of their education and status. In addition, it has a great social and cultural role in a certain local community. The public library provides its users with the possibility of cultural and artistic development and thereby influences their cultural elevation and shaping of artistic attitudes. Therefore, this paper provides a historical account of the establishment and development of the first libraries in the area of today's Vukovar-Srijem County until today. By analyzing the content of historical literature and documentation, by talking to employees who work in the observed libraries, we arrive at the findings and research results that are presented in the discussion part of this paper. Libraries are intended for everyone, regardless of age, gender or profession, so they try to meet the different needs of their users. In the beginning, these needs were only of an entertainment nature, then reading and educational, but today these activities have become more and more complex and at much higher levels and thus quality levels. The first forms of activity in gathering places at the sites of today's libraries and reading rooms were reading news from magazines and newspapers, while cultural activities were manifested by participation in various cultural sections such as tambourine societies, choirs or drama sections. A special form of preserving the culture of a particular region today is the native library collections that preserve the local national treasure of the domicile region. Today, libraries have a demanding role in attracting new users and maintaining the interest of existing users. Observing the activities of modern libraries, they are visible in the demanding forms of efforts to keep pace with technological progress and digitization.