The "birth" of a library to serve the residents of the mid-beach communities began at a September 1949 meeting of the Gulf Beach Woman's Club. Under the guidance of the first club president, Mrs. Polly Van Dyke, a committee of six women began to collect books, which finally found a permanent home in 1952, when a one room building was erected on 140th Avenue on Madeira Beach. Mrs. Edyth Mariani, one of the six original book collectors, assumed the position of head librarian, a post she held until her retirement on December 31, 1979. She was succeeded by Librarian Karilyn Jaap, followed by Maryke Nol and Jan Horah. The library is currently run by library Director, Maggie Cinnella.

The library grew, thanks to enthusiastic community support, over the next fifteen years. During that period, its operation was turned over to the City of Madeira Beach and, subsequently, to a consortium composed of the communities of Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, Redington Beach and North Redington Beach. In 1968, a federal matching grant for a new library was obtained after an intense fund raising campaign for the required local matching funds.

In 1969, this new building was dedicated at the library's present location, 200 Municipal Drive in Madeira Beach, with the four supporting communities supplemented by the addition of the Town of Redington Shores. In 1988, the library expanded to house its ever-growing collection. A 3,600 square foot space was added to the existing building to create more shelving and reading space, bringing the total square footage of the library to 10,000.

In 1989 the Gulf Beaches Public Library became one of the members of the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative (PPLC). The increased cooperation and sharing of resources among the public libraries of Pinellas County have been beneficial to the patrons of the library. Funds made available through PPLC have helped the library to automate its operations, offer materials beyond books such as audio and music CDs and DVDs and to offer internet access to patrons.