Dallas Public Library

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The Dallas Public Library system serves as the municipal library system of the city of Dallas, Texas (USA).

1 History
2 Branches
3 References
4 External link

[edit] History

The J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in the Government District of downtown Dallas.

In 1899, the idea to create a free public library in Dallas was conceived by the Dallas Federation of Women's Clubs, led by president Mrs. Henry (May Dickson) Exall. She helped raise US$11,000 from gifts from public school teachers, local businessmen, and A. H. Belo of The Dallas Morning News.

The library became a reality when Mrs. Exall requested and received a $50,000 grant from philanthropist and steel giant Andrew Carnegie to construct the first library building. On 30 October 1901, the Carnegie library opened at the corner of Harwood and Commerce streets with a head librarian, three assistants, and 9,852 volumes. The first story held the entire collection; the second floor held the Carnegie Hall auditorium and an Art Room. The art room was the first public art gallery in Dallas and eventually became what is known today as the Dallas Museum of Art.

An Oak Cliff branch opened in 1914 to serve the citizens of the area, annexed into Dallas in 1903. Four more branches opened in the 1930s including the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Library, which was the first to serve the African American population of Dallas.

In World War II, the library was fully-established as a War Information Center. By 1950, the library resources and facilities were stretched to the limit, so supporters formed an auxiliary organization called the Friends of the Dallas Public Library to lobby for better library services.

In 1954 the Carnegie Library was badly deteriorating and overcrowded; so it was torn down and a contemporary six-story facility that held 433,000 volumes was built in its place. During construction, the Library was housed at Union Station.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Dallas Public Library added 17 branches to the system. In 1962, Lillian Bradshaw was named Library Director, the first woman to head a department in the City of Dallas, marking a milestone in the civil rights and liberation movements of that era. Days after she was put into office, she faced a censorship push from a Dallas council-member, but the community and media rallied to her defense. The City Council, in response, overwhelmingly approved her appointment and passed a resolution not to censor books.

By the 1970s, the Central facility was again overloaded and unequipped to handle emerging technology. In 1972, the City designated a 114,000 square foot (10,600 m²) site at Young and Ervay across from the Dallas City Hall. In 1982, the technologically sophisticated structure opened its doors. It was one of the first libraries in the nation to have an online catalog and state-of-the-art audiovisual capabilities. It was renamed the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in 1986 in honor of the former mayor who played a large role in the library's development.

In 1996 the Library implemented the STAR computer system, which allowed patrons to access a multitude of electronic databases and the Internet.

By the 2000s, the system had 22 branch locations with over 2.5 million volumes including books, magazines, videos, and cassettes. The system currently attracts 2.8 million visitors per year and has 540,000 cardholders who checkout more than 3.8 million books and other materials per year. The Library also operates a "Library on Wheels" Mobile Learning Center to service Dallas communities. ^[1]

[edit] Branches

The library operates 23 branch locations throughout the city ^[2] and an 8-story main branch, the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, in the Government District of downtown.