The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is located on Lafayette Square, Buffalo,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. The current facility, designed by James William Kideney & Associates and built in 1964, replaced the original Cyrus Eidlitz Buffalo Public Library Building dedicated in February 1887. The first Buffalo Public Library, in turn, replaced the

Erie County, New York Erie County is a county along the shore of Lake Erie in western New York (state), New York State. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 954,236. However, in the 2023 census, the Erie County population was 946,147 ...

courthouse, which occupied the parcel from 1816 to 1876. Founded ca. 1835 as the Young Men's Association (not to be confused with

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

), prominent members included

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

, who was the editor of the ''

Buffalo Express The ''Buffalo Courier-Express'' was a morning newspaper in Buffalo, New York. It ceased publication on September 19, 1982. History The ''Courier-Express'' was created in 1926 by a merger of the ''Buffalo Daily Courier'' and the ''Buffalo Morni ...

'' from 1869 to 1871. The Young Men's Association was a private subscription library, meaning that paid membership was required in order to borrow books. In 1883, the Association began a fund-raising campaign for a new building and held an architectural competition, which culminated in Eidlitz's 1887 design. Upon completion, the Association turned over its collections to the citizens of Buffalo and the Buffalo Public Library was born, with no requirement for dues or membership. Director from 1906 to 1931 was Walter Lewis Brown who was president of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

from 1916 to 1917. Significant

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 ...

collections include the original, hand-written

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

of Twain's ''

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' is a picaresque novel by American author Mark Twain that was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, th ...

'', which Twain donated to the library in 1885; and the Milestones of Science, a collection of first editions announcing major advancements in Western science.

Institutional services

The Institutional Services Division provides library services in three Erie County institutions. Home Branch Library: Begun in 1956 with only a few books, this library at the Erie County Home has evolved dramatically. Users can now enjoy typical branch services as well as use the program room for coffee hour, old-time radio programs, read-alouds and travel club programs. Magnifying bars, book supports, tape-players, slides, slideviewers and electronic magnifiers are available for those needing special accommodations. Collections such as large print, video and audio cassettes create a warm place to find information or just sit and talk to a friend. For those unable to come to this library, room-to-room cart service to residents is provided. Correctional Facility Library: This library located within the Erie County Correctional Facility contains both a law library and a general public library. Constructed in 1986, this library was the first to be built as a core or focal point of a Correctional Facility. Its general collection contains over 8,000 books for inmates' educational and recreational purposes, and of the library is set aside to house a legal collection of over 4,000 volumes. Computers are available to inmates for their legal work. Holding Center Library: Begun in 1969 as cart service to cells, this library has grown to encompass a new facility with both a legal collection and a general library. Residents can borrow all types of materials from adventure fiction to religious non-fiction and use a large legal collection while awaiting trial.

Special collections

The Center for Afro-American History and Research: The Center for Afro-American History and Research is the largest resource center in Western New York for information on African-American history and is located at Frank E. Merriweather Jr. Library. The reference collection includes books, microfilm and pictures with its emphasis on primary source material related to African-American history in Western New York. The "Buffalo Afro-American Collection" is a microfilmed collection, which contains the records of many local organizations as well as the personal papers of community leaders. Records include Urban League, BUILD papers, Bethel A.M.E. Church, First Shiloh, Raphael DuBard's papers and more. Collection for Persons with Disabilities: For individuals with visual impairments, Niagara Frontier Radio reading service receivers, talking books, print-braille books for children, DVDs with descriptive narration and large print books are available. A Stand Alone Reading Appliance (SARA)reader, PC workstation with ZoomText Reader 10 software, NVDA screenreader software and table top magnifier are available for public use. For individuals with hearing impairment, a Sorenson Videophone SVR is available for use by ASL communicators. Assisive listening devices are available for use in the Damon O. Mason Auditorium and at the Ring of Knowledge located on the first floor. Grosvenor Room: Genealogy, Music, Rare Books: '' ronounced GROVE-ner' This department of Central Library, opened in 1994 as the Special Collections Department, brings together the library's extensive genealogy and local history materials. The Grosvenor Room includes family histories; general and ethnic genealogical research manuals; vital records indexes; passenger lists indexes; church and cemetery records; surname dictionaries; local histories; military rosters; heraldry and family crest dictionaries; and directories of all kinds. In 1995, the department became the home of the collection of the Western New York Genealogical Society, the region's oldest and largest genealogy organization. Materials from most Grosvenor Room collections are for in-library use only and cannot be borrowed. Mark Twain Room: This special exhibition room at the Central Library is the home of Twain's original handwritten manuscript, ''

''. Twain was a briefly a member of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library's predecessor, the Young Men's Association, and donated the manuscript of what is considered by many to be the greatest American novel. In 1885, Twain sent the second half of ''Huckleberry Finn'', believing the first half had been lost by a printer. In 1991, the missing portion of the manuscript turned up in a small steamer trunk in a Los Angeles attic. It was among the possessions of descendants of James Fraser Gluck, a curator of the Buffalo Library who had requested the manuscript from Twain a century earlier. Eventually, Twain mailed the missing half of the manuscript to Gluck, but Gluck, who apparently took it to have it bound, died with it among his belongings in 1897. After gaining possession, the B&ECPL united the manuscript in 1992 for the first time in over a century. This priceless literary masterpiece is showcased in the heart of the Twain room. The Mark Twain Room also houses an antique walnut mantel from the now-demolished Delaware Avenue home where Mark Twain lived during his short newspaper career in Buffalo. A framed oil portrait of Twain hangs prominently above this scrupulously restored hardwood mantel. Norman Rockwell prints from a 1940 edition of ''Huckleberry Finn'' enhance the walls on either side. Two bookcases feature hundreds of Twain publications, including many first editions and many in foreign languages. The Mark Twain Room is open during normal Central Library hours of operation.

May 14th Community Collecting Initiative

The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is collecting, documenting and preserving an intentional and authentic record of the

2022 Buffalo shooting On May 14, 2022, a mass shooting occurred in Buffalo, New York, United States, at a Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in the East Side neighborhood. Ten people, all of whom were black, were murdered and three, one of whom was black, were inju ...

. This collection work will include, but is not limited to, oral history recordings and the preservation of mementos that will create a repository of collective memory. A Coalition of professionals, survivors, and the community working to document the tragedy includes Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, The

Buffalo History Museum The Buffalo History Museum (founded as the Buffalo Historical Society, and later named the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is located at 1 Museum Court (formerly 25 Nottingham Court) in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue an ...

Buffalo State University The State University of New York Buffalo State University (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State University, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college, public university in Buffalo, New York. It is part of ...

Burchfield Penney Art Center The Burchfield Penney Art Center, or just the Burchfield Penney, is an arts and educational institution part of Buffalo State University, located adjacent to the main campus in Buffalo, New York, United States. Dedicated to the art and visi ...

Canisius University Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 mas ...

Darwin D. Martin House The Darwin D. Martin House is a historic house museum in Buffalo, New York. The property's buildings were designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903 and 1905. The house is considered to be one of the most important ...

, Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, The Patricia H. and Richard E. Garman Art Conservation Department, Uncrowned Queens Institute for Research and Education on Women, victims’ family members, survivors, and broader community members.Beker, Maki
How do you tell the story of 5/14: Coalition searches for ways to share history as it unfolds.
''The Buffalo News.'' (October 20, 2023).

Area branch libraries

* Alden (Ewell) Free Library -

Alden Alden may refer to: Places United States *Alden, California, a former settlement * Alden, Illinois *Alden, Iowa * Alden, Kansas * Alden, Michigan * Alden, Minnesota * Alden, Oklahoma * Alden, Pennsylvania * Alden, New York ** Alden (village), New ...

* Angola Public Library -

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

* Amherst Main Library at Audubon - Amherst * Aurora Town Public Library - East Aurora * Boston Free Library -

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

* Central Library - Buffalo * Clarence Public Library - Clarence * Amherst Public Library, Clearfield Branch - Williamsville * Collins Public Library - Collins * Concord Public Library - Springville * Crane Branch Library - Buffalo * Dudley Branch Library - Buffalo * East Clinton Branch Library - Buffalo * Leroy R. Coles Jr. Branch Library - Buffalo * Eden Library - Eden * Amherst Public Library, Eggertsville-Snyder Branch - Snyder * Elaine M. Panty Branch Library - Buffalo * Elma Public Library - Elma * Grand Island Memorial Library - Grand Island * Hamburg Public Library, Hamburg Branch -

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

* Isaías González-Soto Branch Library - Buffalo * Town of Tonawanda Public Library, Kenilworth Branch - Buffalo * Town of Tonawanda Public Library, Kenmore Branch - Kenmore * Lackawanna Public Library - Lackawanna * Hamburg Public Library, Lake Shore Branch - Hamburg * Lancaster Public Library -

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

* Marilla Free Library - Marilla * Frank E. Merriweather Jr. Library - Buffalo * Newstead Public Library -

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

* North Collins Library - North Collins * North Park Branch Library - Buffalo * Orchard Park Public Library - Orchard Park * Cheektowaga Public Library, Anna M. Reinstein Memorial Branch -

Cheektowaga Cheektowaga (; ) is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town has grown to a population of 89,877. The town is in the north-central part of the county, and is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. The town is t ...

* Cheektowaga Public Library, Julia Boyer Reinstein Branch - Cheektowaga * City of Tonawanda Public Library -

City of Tonawanda Tonawanda is a city in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,129 at the 2020 census. It is at the northern edge of Erie County, south across the Erie Canal (Tonawanda Creek) from North Tonawanda, east of Grand Island, and ...

* West Seneca Public Library -

West Seneca West Seneca is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 45,500 at the 2020 census. West Seneca is a centrally located interior town of the county, and a suburb of Buffalo. West Seneca, Orchard Park and Hamburg form th ...

*Amherst Public Library, Williamsville Branch - Williamsville

Notes

External links

Buffalo & Erie County Public Library history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffalo and Erie County Public Library Buildings and structures in Buffalo, New York Tourist attractions in Buffalo, New York County library systems in New York (state) Federal depository libraries 1835 establishments in New York (state)