Joseph Dessert was a lumberman who came to the area from Quebec in 1844. He worked in a sawmill at Mosinee (then called Little Bull Falls) for a few years, then bought the mill with three partners in 1849. By 1859 he alone owned the mill, and he ran it for forty years. In the interest of his employees, he sponsored construction of this library, appointed the first board of trustees, stocked it with books, and paid for maintenance for several years. This library has been placed on the National Register of historic places by United States Department of Interior.[4]