Nashville Public Library
Main Library
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| Type | Public library |
|---|---|
| Established | 1901 |
| Location | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Branches | Main Library, 20 Branches, Metropolitan Government Archives of Davidson County, Talking Library |
| Access and use | |
| Population served | 1,500,000 (Davidson County) |
| Other information | |
| Budget | 25,619,800 |
| Director | Kent Oliver |
| Staff | 366 |
| Website | https://library.nashville.org |
Nashville Public Library is the public library serving Nashville, Tennessee and the metropolitan area of Davidson County. The library's mission is to ″inspire reading, advance learning and connect our community." In 2010, the Nashville Public Library was the recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.
A succession of public libraries, known by a variety of names, served the people of Nashville. The early libraries were generally small, offered a narrow range of services, and operated on a fee schedule. In 1897, the Tennessee General Assembly authorized cities of a certain size to establish and maintain free public libraries and reading rooms. With this authority, in 1901 the Howard Library became Nashville’s first free circulating library. Also in 1901, Andrew Carnegie offered to donate $100,000 for a new library building if the city would take care of its maintenance. The city accepted those terms, and in 1904, the Carnegie Library Building was completed on Polk Avenue. Andrew Carnegie enabled the building and opening of an additional three branches between 1912 and 1919. Two of those buildings are still in use today, the North Branch and the East Branch.
The Carnegie Library Building was razed and replaced with the Ben West Public Library in 1963. The Main Library was housed in the Ben West building for 38 years.
In 2001 the new Main Library Building, designed by Robert A. M. Stern was opened.
Previously on the site for the Main Library was a downtown shopping mall called Church Street Center.
There are 20 library branches in the Nashville Public Library system. They are:
The Nashville Public Library features a variety of public programming. The library offers puppet shows in the Main Library as well as throughout the Nashville community.
The library offers digital collections, e-book and audiobook downloads, language learning services, and computer classes. There are a variety of book clubs hosted throughout the library system.
In 2010, the Nashville Public Library began partnering with Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools to offer the students access to the public library materials. Called "Limitless Libraries," this program offers access to approximately 1.5 million information resources.
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