A library branch, branch library or community library is a library that forms part of a

library system A library consortium is any cooperative association of libraries that coordinates resources and/or activities on behalf of its members, whether they are school, public, academic, special libraries and/or information centers. Consortia exist on a v ...

but are not located in the same area, building or city, but use the same

library classification A library classification is a system of organization of knowledge by which library resources are arranged and ordered systematically. Library classifications are a notational system that represents the order of topics in the classification and al ...

for their catalogs and are interconnected with all the branches of the system that form part of the systems and to library patrons through an

integrated library system An integrated library system (ILS), also known as a library management system (LMS), is an enterprise resource planning system for a library, used to track items owned, orders made, bills paid, and patrons who have borrowed. An ILS usually is co ...

. Some country's municipalities have their own

, for example: London Public Library (Canada) with 16 library branches, Helsinki Metropolitan Area Libraries with 63 libraries,

National Library of Venezuela The Biblioteca Nacional de Venezuela (in English: ''National Library of Venezuela''), located in Caracas, is the legal deposit and copyright for Venezuela. It was established on July 13, 1833, by decree of General José Antonio Páez. Diego Baut ...

with 685 branches. Some popular library branches include

New York Public Library Main Branch The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, commonly known as the Main Branch, 42nd Street Library or the New York Public Library, is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. ...

, part of New York Public Library System, and

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (MLKML) is the central facility of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL). Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed the 400,000 square foot (37,000 m2) steel, brick, and glass structure, and it is a ra ...

, a branch of District of Columbia Public Library System.

References

Library management {{library-stub