The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) is the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

library system A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

for

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The system includes 26 individual libraries including Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, DCPL's central library.

History

In October 1895, in preparation of the library's establishment, founders rented two rooms in the McLean Building at 1517 H Street NW to begin acquiring and processing materials to be used in what would then be called the Washington City Free Library. The library was founded in 1896 by an act of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

after a lobbying effort by Theodore W. Noyes, editor of the ''

Washington Evening Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the ''Washington'' ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday ...

'' newspaper. Noyes served on the library's board of trustees for 50 years. The first library branch following congressional authorization was located in a home at 1326 New York Avenue NW, with a collection of 15,000 donated books and an appropriation of $6,720 for its maintenance. This was replaced by a main library, donated by

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

, built at

Mount Vernon Square Mount Vernon Square is a town square, city square and neighborhood in the Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest Address (geography)#Quadrants, quadrant of Washington, D.C. The square is located where the following streets would otherwise inters ...

, which now houses the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and an

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad ta ...

. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

attended the dedication of this building in 1903. Several of the branch libraries still in use were also built with funds donated by Carnegie. In 1972, the main library was replaced by a

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...

-designed building dedicated as a memorial to

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

Governance

DCPL is an independent agency of the District of Columbia government, managed by a Chief Librarian that is selected and reviewed by a Board of Library Trustees. The Board of Library Trustees are appointed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia, subject to review and approval by the Council of the District of Columbia. The budget is also determined by the Council of the District of Columbia based on a request submitted by the Mayor as part of the annual budget process for the entire government. The United States Congress also has to approve of the District's budget as a part of their oversight of the District of Columbia as the nation's capital. The Chief Librarian is often invited to attend the Mayor's Cabinet meetings and works closely with the District Administrator on how to execute the DCPL budget. The District's Chief Financial Officer provides a fiscal officer from that office to ensure that financial practices within DCPL meet with District requirements. DCPL also has independent procurement authority, allowing them to execute contracts for books, electronic resources, furniture, equipment, and construction services. In addition to the Board of Library Trustees, the Council of the District of Columbia provides oversight for DCPL via a Council Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs. Previously, libraries were managed by the Committee on Education. The DC Council routinely has Performance Oversight and Budget hearings for the D.C. libraries annually. The DCPL has its own small police force, the District of Columbia Public Library Police. The Library Police's duties and mission is similar to District of Columbia Protective Services Division: to protect government property, staff, and the public. The types of incidents that occur are thefts, assaults, destruction of property, and so on.

Branches

File:Mount Pleasant library (4356776281).jpg, Mount Pleasant Library File:Georgetown Neighborhood Library.jpg, Georgetown Library File:New-Southwest-Neighborhood-Library-Ext.jpg, Southwest Library File:Southeastern branch library (4363120779).jpg, Southeast Library File:Tenley-Friendship branch of the D.C. Public Library, 4450 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C LCCN2012630004.tif, Tenley-Friendship Library File:Takoma Park neighborhood branch of the D.C. Public Library System, 416 Cedar St., N.W., Washington, D.C LCCN2012630213.jpg, Takoma Park Library File:Watha T. Daniel-Shaw library, Washington, D.C LCCN2012630233.tif, Shaw Library File:Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library.jpg, Francis A. Gregory Library File:Petworth Branch Library.jpg, Petworth Library File:Parklands-Turner Neighborhood Library.jpg, Parklands-Turner Library File:Bellevue-William O. Lockridge Library (cropped).jpg, Bellevue / William O. Lockridge Library File:Cleveland Park Library exterior.jpg, Cleveland Park Library In addition to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library — the system's central library — the D.C. Public Library has 26 neighborhood branch library locations throughout the city and operates a location at the city's jail. The first neighborhood branch was the

Takoma Park Neighborhood Library The Takoma Park Neighborhood Library is part of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) System. It was opened to the public in 1911. History Prior to the current public library opening in 1911, the community was served by a small lendi ...

. As of 2024, the last new full-service branch to open (and not replace a previous building) was the Rosedale Neighborhood Library, opening in 2012 in

Kingman Park Kingman Park is a residential neighborhood in the Northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C., the United States capital city. Kingman Park's boundaries are 15th Street NE to the west; C Street SE to the south; Benning Road to the north; and Anacostia ...

. The most recent rebuilt library to open was the Lamond-Riggs/Lillian J. Huff Neighborhood Library, which opened in 2022 in Queens Chapel. In 2023, library officials announced that they were considering whether to close the Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library and relocate it further south to fill a service gap. In 2024, construction started on a two-year renovation project for the Southeast Neighborhood Library on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

, while the city started the process toward replacing the Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library with a new development that would include a library and affordable housing at the same location. * Anacostia Neighborhood Library * Bellevue / William O. Lockridge Library * Benning / Dorothy I. Height Neighborhood Library * Capitol View Neighborhood Library * Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library * Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library *

Deanwood Neighborhood Library The Deanwood Neighborhood Library is a branch of the District of Columbia Public Library in the Deanwood neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is located at 1350 49th Street NE, within a community center that opened in July 2010 at a cost of $ ...

Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library is part of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) System. It was originally opened to the public in 1961. A new building on the same site, designed by award-winning architect David Adjaye, opened on ...

Georgetown Neighborhood Library The Georgetown Neighborhood Library is a branch of the District of Columbia Public Library located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Established by an Act of Congress in 1934, the library houses the collection of its predecess ...

* Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library * Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library * Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (DCPL's central library) * Mount Pleasant Library * Northeast Neighborhood Library * Northwest One Library *

Palisades Neighborhood Library The Palisades Neighborhood Library is a branch of the District of Columbia Public Library in the Palisades neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is ...

* Parklands-Turner Neighborhood Library * Petworth Neighborhood Library * Rosedale Neighborhood Library * Southeast Neighborhood Library * Southwest Neighborhood Library *

* Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library * Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library * West End Neighborhood Library *

Woodridge Neighborhood Library The Woodridge Neighborhood Library is a branch of the District of Columbia Public Library in the Woodridge neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is th ...

Books from Birth

The D.C. Public Library runs a program called Books from Birth. The program is for children aged newborn to 5. All enrolled children receive a book in the mail every month. All children who live in the District are eligible. The program runs in partnership with

Imagination Library The Dollywood Foundation was created in 1988 by Dolly Parton to inspire the children in her home county to achieve educational success. Initial efforts focused on decreasing the drop out rate in the county’s high school. In the early 90’s Doll ...

, a nonprofit run by singer

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

's Dollywood Foundation. The D.C. program launched in 2016, and as of November 2017, 57 percent of eligible children are enrolled (27,000 children).

Non-resident privileges

The District of Columbia Public library issues library cards without charge to non-residents who work in, pay property taxes to, or go to school in the District of Columbia. It also will issue them to residents of jurisdictions that will reciprocate for District of Columbia residents, this includes residents of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland, as well as residents of the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church, and Arlington, Fairfax, Frederick, Loudoun and Prince William counties in Virginia. Residents of other areas not otherwise qualifying may obtain a card for $20 a year.http://dclibrary.org/getacard Get A Library Card, DC Public Library (Retrieved May 20, 2016)

References

External links

*
DCPL Foundation

Federation of Friends of the DC Public Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:District Of Columbia Public Library

Library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

Public libraries in Washington, D.C. 1896 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Public Library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...