Minneapolis Central Public Library by Cesar Pelli

Hennepin County Library is a

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 ...

system serving

Hennepin County, Minnesota Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the most populous county in Minnesota and the 34th-most populous count ...

, US. The current iteration of Hennepin County Library was formed by the merger of urban

Minneapolis Public Library The Minneapolis Public Library (MPL) was a library system that served the residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1885 with the establishment of the Minneapolis Library Board by an amendment to the Minneapolis City ...

and suburban Hennepin County Library on January 1, 2008. The system has 41 library locations, deposit collections at nursing homes and correctional facilities, mail service to the homebound, and extensive outreach services. With more than 4 million items in its collection, the Hennepin County Library system is one of the largest public libraries in the United States. The library is a department of Hennepin County Government. The library headquarters are in the Ridgedale Library in suburban

Minnetonka Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of Minneapolis. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781. Minnetonka is the home of Car ...

. The library system has an eleven-member advisory Library Board appointed by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. It is a member of the Metropolitan Library Service Agency, a consortium of eight

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

library systems.

History

was founded in 1885 with the establishment of the Minneapolis Public Library Board by an amendment of the Minneapolis city charter. Minneapolis Public Library's first building was the Main Library, opened in 1889. Minneapolis Public Library later added community library branches to supplement the main library. The first branch was North Branch, established in 1890, more branches in south and east Minneapolis followed, and the system grew with the city. Hennepin County Library started in 1922 as a horse-drawn "

bookmobile A bookmobile, or mobile library, is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Boo ...

" to areas outside the core city of Minneapolis. The system saw a large increase in use in the period between 1950 and 1980 as more people moved into suburban areas of the county. By 1952 there were 24 libraries in the system; additional city libraries, such as Hopkins, were incorporated into the county system. Hennepin County Library opened its first area library, Southdale, in 1973. In the early 1970s plans were in place to merge the Minneapolis Public Library with the Hennepin County Library. However, the Minneapolis library system reconsidered, and merger plans were put on hold. Ultimately, the two library systems reached an agreement, and the merger was finalized on January 1, 2008, under the name of Hennepin County Library.

Branches

Minneapolis

Suburban Hennepin County

City locations

Bookmobile

The Hennepin County Free Library started operating a

(then called a book wagon) in 1922.

Library directors

* Pauline Field, 1922–1925 * Ethel Berry, 1925–1947 * Helen Young, 1947–1969 * Robert H. Rohlf, 1969–1994 * Charles M. Brown, 1994–2004 * Amy Ryan, 2005–2008 * Lois Langer Thompson, 2009–2018 * Janet Mills (interim), 2018–2020 * Chad Helton, August 24, 2020 – February 25, 2022 * Dan Rogan (Interim), February 25, 2022 – October 9, 2023 * Scott Duimstra, October 9, 2023 – presentMcKinney, M. (2023, August 23). Hennepin County's new library director is eager to expand library's impact — and live in Twin Cities. ''StarTribune''

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References

External links

Hennepin County Library

Hennepin County Library merger page
(Archive)
History of the Hennepin County Library
{{authority control Hennepin County Library, County library systems in Minnesota Education in Hennepin County, Minnesota 1885 establishments in Minnesota