In the late nineteenth century Gleniti was a small rural community some three miles inland from Timaru. Originally called Wai-iti, the name was changed in the 1880s when the Post Office was established here. Because there was already a Wai-iti Post Office in the Nelson District it was decided to give the locality a combined Scottish and Maori name and it was called Gleniti.

A handsome two-roomed school was built to serve this district on a two acre reserve. When it opened on 28 July 1879 there were 26 pupils which gives an indication of the size of the community. In November 1885 a meeting was held in the school to discuss the village's need for a Post Office and daily mail service. After it was resolved that their request be relayed to the Post Master General, attention was turned to the provision of a public library. The school committee had already discussed this issue and one of their members, David Fyffe, had promised to provide stone for the building's construction. Mr Timaru Rhodes from the nearby Hadlow Estate showed the meeting a plan for a library building which he was prepared to erect and present to the district.

The plan showed "every accommodation" for the library which would have a "large, well-lighted, comfortable reading room together with another most convenient room at the main entrance". Permission was obtained from the South Canterbury Education Board to site the library on the school property and the facility was completed in 1887. Mr Rhodes was a public spirited landowner who concerned himself with all local issues and was active in advancing community interests.

With 28 subscribers to the library in the 1880s the lending library contained over 300 volumes, with newspapers and magazines provided in the reading room. Lectures were frequently held here.

Over the years Timaru developed and the small village became part of the city. In 1961 the library committee handed over the building, its contents and funds to the school. The school could no longer accommodate the increased numbers of pupils and for a brief period the library was used as a classroom. In 1975 a new district school was opened and this site was vacated. The two buildings on their two acre site were transferred to the Timaru District Council. Since that date the South Canterbury Arts Society has leased the two buildings and the school grounds are now a public park. In recent years the Arts Society has made little use of the library which is currently used by the council for storage.