Ramsey County Library is a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

system that operates in suburban

Ramsey County, Minnesota Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 552,352, making it the second-most populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat and largest city is Saint Paul, the state capital and ...

, United States. The system has seven branches. The library started in the 1920s when the extension division of the

Saint Paul Public Library The Saint Paul Public Library is a library system serving the residents of Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. The library system includes a Central Library, twelve branch locations, and a bookmobile. It is a member of the Metropolitan ...

provided books for various public schools in the county outside of

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. It was officially established by the county in 1951. The library system is governed by a seven-member Library Board appointed by Ramsey County Board of Commissioners. The "Friends of the Ramsey County Library" was formed in 1979 as a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the libraries. It is a member of the

Metropolitan Library Service Agency The Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA) is a regional library system in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota. It consists of eight library systems in seven counties, with a total of over one hundred member libraries. ...

, 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 statu ...

library systems. Today more than 600,000 items are available in the Ramsey County Library collection, growing from 43,000 items in 1954. More than 1.6 million people visit the seven RCPL libraries annually. The Roseville branch is a

green library The Cecil H. Green Library (commonly known as Green Library) is the main library on the Stanford University campus and is part of the SUL system. It is named for Cecil H. Green. Green Library houses 4 million volumes, most of which are relate ...

Locations

* The Roseville Library was built in 1964, remodeled in 1981, rebuilt in 1993, and again remodeled with expansion in 2010. * The Maplewood Library was built in 1967, rebuilt in 1993, and rebuilt and relocated in 2007. * The White Bear Lake library joined the Ramsey County Library system in 1967, and a new library was built in 1974, which was then remodeled and expanded in 2015. * The North Saint Paul Library joined the county system in 1972, and a new library was built in 1977, with the branch library relocated in 2005 into a shared-use building. * The Mounds View Library was built in 1990. * The

Shoreview Shoreview is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota. The population was 25,043 at the time of the 2010 census. In 2008, Shoreview ranked fourth in a ''Family Circle'' list of best family towns. Geography According to the United States Census Burea ...

Library was built in 1992 and relocated into a new building in 2017. * The New Brighton Library opened in its current location in 2011 in the New Brighton Community Center building. (Previously, the

Arden Hills Arden Hills is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,552 at the 2010 census. Bethel University and Seminary is located in the city of Arden Hills. Also, the campus of University of Northwestern – St. Paul st ...

branch served area residents from 1969 to 2010.)

Directors

*Ruth Palmer 1951-1969 (County Librarian 1939-1951) *Phyllis Olmen 1970 (acting director) *Nowell Leitzke 1970-1971 *Norman Vinnes 1971-1993 *Marianne Roos 1993-1999 *Alice Jo Carlson 1999-2005 *Susan Nemitz 2005–2016 *Jill Boldenow 2016–2020 *Jake Grussing 2022

References

External links

* {{authority control County library systems in Minnesota Education in Ramsey County, Minnesota