Indianapolis Public Library


The Indianapolis Public Library is the public library system serving the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United States and its largest city, Indianapolis. The library was founded in 1873 and has grown to include a Central Library building, located adjacent to the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza, and 23 branch libraries spread throughout the county. The library attracts over four million visitors each year and circulates nearly 16 million items.

Central Library

The Central Library building was designed by architect Paul Philippe Cret and completed in 1917.
In 2001 the Indianapolis-based architectural firm of Woollen, Molzan and Partners was commissioned to renovate the historic building. The planned $100 million project also included replacing a five-story addition with a new, six-story curved-glass and steel facility and atrium that connected to the Cret building. Construction problems caused construction to be temporarily halted in 2004; however, the renovated Central Library and its new atrium addition opened on December 9, 2007, ending the controversial, multi-year construction project, which cost $150 million.

Indianapolis Special Collections Room

The Central Library also houses the Nina Mason Pulliam Indianapolis Special Collections Room containing a variety of archival adult and children's materials, both fiction and nonfiction books by local authors, photographs, scrapbooks, typescripts, manuscripts, autographed editions, letters, newspapers, magazines, and realia. The collection features Kurt Vonnegut, May Wright Sewall, the Woollen family, James Whitcomb Riley, and Booth Tarkington.

Branches

Besides the Central Library, The Indianapolis Public Library also operates twenty-three branch libraries and provides bookmobile services. In April 2016, the boards of the Indianapolis and the Beech Grove public libraries voted to merge, with the Beech Grove library becoming the 23rd branch library of the Indianapolis library system on June 1, 2016.
In 2014 the library board received approval from the Indianapolis City-County Council to begin issuing $58.5 million in bonds to renovate and relocate existing branches and construct new ones., the Southport, East Washington, and Warren branches had been renovated, with renovations at the Wayne and Lawrence branches scheduled for 2019 and 2021, respectively. The Eagle branch will be relocated to 3905 Moller Road in 2019, the Brightwood branch will be relocated to 25th Street and Sherman Drive, and the Glendale branch to a new location in 2022. Groundbreaking for a new branch at 6201 Michigan Road was held on November 3, 2017, with completion expected in 2018. New branches in Perry Township and in Lawrence will open in 2019 and 2020.
Branch NameYear Est.Street address
Beech Grove Branch 19511102 Main Street, Beech Grove
Brightwood Branch19012435 N. Sherman Drive
College Avenue Branch19244180 N. College Avenue
Decatur Branch19675301 Kentucky Avenue
Eagle Branch19603325 Lowry Road
East 38th Street Branch19575420 E. 38th Street
East Washington Branch19112822 E. Washington Street
Flanner House Branch19672424 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Street
Fountain Square Branch18961066 Virginia Avenue
Franklin Road Branch19695550 S. Franklin Road
Garfield Park Branch19182502 Shelby Street
Glendale Branch1930Glendale Town Center
6101 N. Keystone Avenue
Haughville Branch18962121 W. Michigan Street
InfoZone Branch20003000 N. Meridian Street
Inside The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Irvington Branch 19035625 E.Washington Street
Lawrence Branch19677898 N. Hague Road
Nora Branch19718625 Guilford Avenue
Pike Branch19676525 Zionsville Road
Southport Branch19672630 E. Stop 11 Road
Spades Park Branch19121801 Nowland Avenue
Warren Branch19749701 E. 21st Street
Wayne Branch1969198 S. Girls School Road
West Indianapolis Branch18971216 S. Kappes Street