The Indianapolis Public Library

Indianapolis Library Association organizes

Over 100 members agree to fund a book collection. The association limits circulation of its materials to members and paid subscribers.

🠉 Top

Rev. Hanford A. Edson preaches a sermon on the need for a public library

Edson, the pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, argues that a public library will provide culture and values for residents and commercial growth for the city. His sermon triggers a public library campaign.

🠉 Top

General Assembly passes library bill

Abraham C. Shortridge and seven others draft the bill that provides for the establishment of public libraries in Indiana under the administration of school boards.

Board hires a librarian from the Cincinnati Public Library

The Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners employs William F. Poole to prepare lists and orders for 8,000 volumes as the initial collection for the Indianapolis Public Library.

🠉 Top

Indianapolis Library Association donates book collection

The association gives its entire collection of around 4,000 volumes to form the core collection of the new public library.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Charles Evans as head librarian

Upon the recommendation of William Poole, the school board and library committee hires Evans, a 22-year-old from Boston, as the head librarian

Indianapolis Library opens

Located in one room of the high school building at the northeast corner of Pennsylvania and Michigan streets, the library begins with 12,790 volumes ready for 500 registered borrowers.

🠉 Top

First annual report notes 5,220 borrowers

Over the course of its first year, the library’s collection generates 101,281 circulations. Most borrowers are children and members of the middle and upper classes.

🠉 Top

Library moves to a larger location

The School Board leases space on the second floor of the Sentinel Building on the Circle to house the library. It remains there for the next three years.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Albert B. Yohn as head librarian

A book retailer by trade, Yohn adds a browsing shelf and buys new library books upon request.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Arthur W. Tyler as head librarian

During his tenure, Tyler updates the library’s catalog and begins to work more closely with the public school system.

🠉 Top

Library moves to the Alvord Building

The new location at the corner of Pennsylvania and Ohio streets provides increased space for the library as well as office space for the School Board.

🠉 Top

Library appointes William DeM. Hooper as head librarian

An insurance agent, Hooper relies on his staff to run the library while he focuses on social demands.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Eliza Gordon Browning as acting Librarian

The School Board fires Hooper for poor leadership and puts Browning in charge until a new head librarian is appointed.

🠉 Top

Library reappoints Charles Evans as head librarian

The School Board brings Evans back in hopes of revitalizing both the collection and the library’s reputation, which lagged under his successors.

🠉 Top

Indiana General Assembly authorizes bond sale for new library building

The bonds allow the School Board to fund a new $100,000 facility to house the library.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Eliza Gordon Browning as head librarian

The city’s first woman head librarian, Browning focuses her 25-year tenure on making the library a communitywide institution.

🠉 Top

Library moves to first free-standing building

Located at 150 North Meridian Street, the library opens with a collection of about 52,000 books.

🠉 Top

First branches added to the library

The branches–Branch No. 1 (Riverside), Branch No. 2 (Brookside Ave/10th St), Branch No. 3 (Prospect), and Branch No. 4 (Madison Ave) provide greater community access to the library’s collection.

🠉 Top

West Indianapolis Branch opens

Located in the newly annexed city of West Indianapolis, the branch becomes the 5th added to the library system.

🠉 Top

Branch No. 2 relocates to Haughville

After the Haughville community petitions for a neighborhood branch, the library moves Branch No. 2 to the grounds of IPS School No. 52.

🠉 Top

Central Library establishes new medical collection

Using donations from area physicians and hospitals, the library develops a collection of 4,545 medical texts.

🠉 Top

Central Library adds new children’s space

Decorated with pictures and plants, the special alcove begins with 7,500 children’s books.

🠉 Top

Brightwood Branch Library opens

The library’s 6th branch is located at 2435 Station Street.

🠉 Top

Irvington Branch Library opens

Located in the Bona Thompson Library of Butler College, the branch makes the library more accessible to Irvington residents and Butler students.

🠉 Top

McCarty Branch Library opens

A gift from the Union Mission Sunday School, the branch is located at 415 West McCarty Street. It closes in 1930.

🠉 Top

Book stacks opened for patrons to browse

Patrons begin browsing shelves to make their own book selections rather than relying on staff to retrieve them.

🠉 Top

Riverside Branch Library moves

The library branch occupies a new building at 3101 Clifton Street. It closes in 1971.

🠉 Top

Library sets up a school reference department

Library assistants visit both public and private schools to provide reference services to grades 7 through 10.

🠉 Top

Illinois Branch Library opens

The library’s 10th branch is located at Pennsylvania and 33rd Streets.

🠉 Top

School Board purchases property at Meridian and St. Clair

The board chooses the site as a potential home for a new Central Library building.

🠉 Top

Andrew Carnegie awards $120,000 grant for six new library branches

Between 1909 and 1914, the library system builds five Carnegie branches: West Indianapolis, Madison Avenue, Spades Park, East Washington, and Hawthorne. Land for a sixth is never secured.

🠉 Top

James Whitcomb Riley donates land to School Board

The Hoosier poet gives land at the northwest corner of St. Clair and Pennsylvania streets, next to the land the School Board bought three years earlier.

🠉 Top

East Washington Branch Library opens

The branch is the first constructed in Indianapolis using the Carnegie grant. It is located at 2822 East Washington Street.

🠉 Top

Hawthorne Branch Library opens

Located at 70 North Mount Street, the branch is the second constructed using Carnegie funds. It closes in 1955.

🠉 Top

West Indianapolis Branch Library opens in new building

The third Indianapolis Carnegie branch is located at 1926 West Morris Street.

🠉 Top

Spades Park Branch Library opens

The library builds its fourth Carnegie branch on park land donated to the city by Indianapolis businessman Michael H. Spades.

🠉 Top

Architectural competition for the new Central Library building

New York City architect H. Van Buren Magonigle and three jurors select Philadelphia architects Paul P. Cret and Clarence Zantzinger’s design for the new library building in April 1914.

🠉 Top

Madison Avenue Branch Library opens in new building

The building, located at Madison Avenue and Colburn Streets, is the last branch constructed with Carnegie funds.

🠉 Top

Groundbreaking for new Central Library Branch

After many delays, construction finally begins on the new Central Library at St. Clair and Pennsylvania Streets.

🠉 Top

Cornerstone laying event for the new Central Library building

Indianapolis author Meredith Nicholson delivers the keynote speech at the ceremony held for the event.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Charles E. Rush as head librarian

Rush, who comes to the position with over a decade of library administration experience, replaces Elizabeth Gordon Browning, who after 25 years steps down to the position of assistant librarian.

🠉 Top

New Central Library building dedication ceremony

Over 1,000 guests attend the event. The ceremony includes a reception for Indianapolis teachers and an open house for the public.

🠉 Top

Library adopts the Dewey Decimal system

Library staff begin the long process of reclassifying the library’s entire book collection and card catalog to the Dewey Decimal classification system.

🠉 Top

Business Branch Library opens

Located in the old Central Library building at 150 North Meridian Street, its collection covers a range of business-related topics and, in addition to books, includes directories and chamber of commerce and corporate publications.

🠉 Top

Shelby Branch Library opens

The new branch at 2359 Shelby Street also serves as a social center for the neighborhood.

🠉 Top

First Library Training Class begins

Under the direction of Carrie Scott, 20 students enroll in the six-month training program to learn essential library skills. The classes stop in 1941.

🠉 Top

Carrie Scott develops story hour program

The children’s program rolls out in seven branches. Three more branches add story hour to their programming by 1920.

🠉 Top

Library branch opens in Manual Training High School

The high school’s library reorganizes as a branch of the Indianapolis Public Library.

🠉 Top

Technical Department opens at Central Library

Later known as the Business, Science & Technology Division, the department aims to provide “efficient reference and book service to the manufacturers, chemists, engineers, and other scientific and industrial workers of the city.”

🠉 Top

Library begins providing service to City Hospital

The library offers books to the hospital via wagon service three times per week. It extends the service to Indiana University School of Medicine’s Long Hospital three months later.

🠉 Top

Teachers’ Special Library opens

Partnering with the IPS Board of School Commissioners, the new library provides teachers with educational resources in the old Central Library building. It transfers to IPS in 1967, when the Indianapolis Library reorganizes to serve the entire county.

🠉 Top

South Grove Branch Library opens

The new branch is located at 2003 Sugar Grove Avenue. It closes in 1955.

🠉 Top

Library publishes the first issue of Readers’ Ink

The monthly newsletter continues the earlier Book Bulletin of the Indianapolis Public Library in a new format. It ceases publication in 1933.

🠉 Top

Paul Laurence Dunbar Branch Library opens in School No. 26

Located at 1301 East 16th Street, the branch, the first in a predominately Black neighborhood, features books about Black history and culture. It closes in 1967, but the space remains in use as a media center for IPS School No. 26.

🠉 Top

50th Anniversary

The Indianapolis Public Library celebrates the 50th anniversary of its opening in 1873 with a costume party just for staff and a formal gathering for stakeholders.

🠉 Top

Library establishes the Out-of-School Division

This self-directed program fosters adult education and assists high school and college dropouts.

🠉 Top

Broadway Branch Library opens

The branch is located in a house at 615 East 42nd Street.

🠉 Top

Annual circulation exceeds 2,000,000

During the Central Library’s first 10 years of operation, circulation increases nearly 189 percent, and the number of registered borrowers grows 161 percent.

🠉 Top

Crispus Attuck High School Branch Library opens

The branch, located in the new IPS segregated high school at 1140 North West Street, is open for use by both students and the public. The school system takes over managing the library for the high school in 1959.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Luther L. Dickerson as head librarian

Dickerson, who previously worked for the American Library Association, brings expertise that guides the library through the financial struggles of the Great Depression.

🠉 Top

Rauh Memorial Library dedication

The branch, located at 3024 N. Meridian in the former home of Samuel and Emma Rauh, who gave it as a gift to the library, replaces the Illinois Street Branch. It closes in 1973.

🠉 Top

Pilot of a new self-charging check-out system

The pilot project at the Broad Ripple branch reduces staff time spent on checking out borrowers. Central Library adopts the system in December 1932.

🠉 Top

Broad Ripple Branch Library opens

Located at 910-912 East 63rd Street, it becomes the 20th library branch in the Indianapolis Public Library system.

🠉 Top

Annual circulation exceeds 3,000,000

Circulation increases, likely in response to rises in unemployment as workers seek new skills and fill time.

🠉 Top

Great Depression causes reductions in salaries

The economic pressures of the Great Depression force the library to cut salaries by 5 percent. Another cut of 6 percent follows in 1933.

🠉 Top

School No. 87 Branch Library opens

The new branch is located at 2411 Indianapolis Avenue. Renamed the George Washington Carver Branch on November 9, 1944, it closes in 1950.

🠉 Top

Library creates a Staff Association

The association promotes professional and educational development of the library staff.

🠉 Top

Staff Association publishes first issue of Ad Lib

The Staff Association produces the weekly newsletter, which provides library staff with a mix of personal and professional news.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Marian McFadden as head librarian

McFadden, a 10-year veteran of the library, fills the role after serving as acting librarian for five months after Dickerson retires.

🠉 Top

Library begins providing Public Employees’ Retirement Fund benefit for staff

Established by the Indiana General Assembly in 1945, the library begins offering its staff the option to participate in the government-run retirement fund.

🠉 Top

Library gets a phonograph for patron use

The table-top phonograph, with two sets of headphones, becomes a popular piece of technology to use within the library. Two years later, the phonorecord loan service begins.

🠉 Top

Library reorganizes the Catalog, Order, and Binding Departments

The Technical Processes Department combines the three departments under the direction of the supervisor of technical processes, a new position.

🠉 Top

Business Library publishes first issue of Cue to Business

The Business Library creates the periodical that features a combination of essays and booklists. It ceases publication in 1972.

🠉 Top

Broad Ripple Branch Library reopens in new building

The branch moves from its east 63rd address to a new building at 6219 Guilford Avenue.

🠉 Top

Holladay Memorial Library for Young People opens

The branch opens in a home at 5549 College Ave. that was willed to the library in 1946 by Clara Eleanor Holladay, a retired teacher. The branch closes in 1958, and it’s collection is moved to Central Library.

🠉 Top

Motion pictures available for loan

The collection of 80 16-millimeter films includes primarily educational subjects.

🠉 Top

First Staff Training Institute/Library Day

The entire library system closes so all employees can gather at the Central Library for lectures, discussions, and a mutual sharing of experiences.

🠉 Top

Bookmobile service begins

With 2,000 books on its shelves, the bookmobile marks the beginning of mobile library service with its first stop at 10th Street and Bosart Avenue.

🠉 Top

Board approves purchase of former DAR headquarters

Following renovation, the former Daughters of the American Revolution building at 824 North Pennsylvania Street becomes the new administrative offices for the library system.

🠉 Top

Irvington Branch Library moves and is renamed

The branch moves to a newly constructed building on the original site at 5427 East Washington Street. It is renamed the Hilton U. Brown Library after the newspaper executive. It closes in 2001.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Harold J. Sander as Director of Public Libraries

Sander, the former head of the library’s Business Branch, steps into the role when McFadden resigns to focus on personal pursuits.

🠉 Top

Emerson Branch Library opens

The new branch is located in a house at 3642 North Emerson Avenue.

🠉 Top

Broadway Branch Library reopens in new building

The library constructs a new branch building at 4186 North Broadway, the same site as the house in which it operated since 1925. It closes in 2000.

🠉 Top

Library staff work with Indianapolis News to organize Indiana’s first book fair

Held at the Indiana World War Memorial, the five-day event highlights 3,500 books, along with displays on microfilm, Braille, maps, and more.

🠉 Top

Central Library reorganizes several departments

The general adult department moves to the social services division, and literature and fiction combine with art and music to form the arts division. The reference department holdings are distributed to various subject divisions.

🠉 Top

Eagle Branch Library opens

The new branch is located in a storefront in the Safeway Shopping Center at 2707 North Tibbs Avenue.

🠉 Top

Central Annex complete

The basement and first floor of the annex replace the DAR house at 824 North Pennsylvania Street. The design of the new structure accommodates plans for future expansion.

🠉 Top

New Emerson Branch Library building

A new 7,500-square-foot building is constructed on the same site as the previous building at 3642 North Emerson Avenue. The branch closes in 2003.

🠉 Top

Business Library moves to new location

The library moves the division to the Board of Trade Building at 143 North Meridian Street.

🠉 Top

General Assembly passes bill to extend library service

The bill allows the school board to extend library service to all of Marion County. To follow the Indiana Library Law of 1947, a library board must be formed for the expanded entity before services can be extended. This board does not organize until 1967.

🠉 Top

Library begins digital record-keeping

The library uses the Indianapolis Public School’s IBM equipment to keep track of patron transactions.

🠉 Top

Library presents first “Distinguished Service Award”

The award recognizes a staff member for outstanding ability and leadership. It is renamed “The Helen L. Norris Distinguished Service Award” in 1979 after the staff member that established it.

🠉 Top

Northeast Branch Library opens

The new branch is located in the Northeastwood Shopping Center at 8939 East 38th Street. It closes in 1982.

🠉 Top

Business Branch publishes the first Indianapolis Facts & Figures

The publication provides a central source of statistical information about Indianapolis.

🠉 Top

Marion County residents form the Friends of the Library group

Several Marion County residents form the group to work with the library and local legislators to make the county library system a reality.

🠉 Top

Shelby Branch Library moves

The library moves the branch to a new 6,500-square-foot building at 2502 Shelby Street after spending 47 years in an old frame school building at 2359 Shelby Street.

🠉 Top

County Commissioners establish a county library system

After receiving a petition bearing 20,000 signatures calling for a county-wide library system, the commissioners pass a resolution to create it and a Marion County Public Library Board to govern it.

🠉 Top

First county branch opens

The new county branch, Marwood Branch Library, is located in the Marwood Shopping Center at 3373 Kentucky Avenue. It is replaced by the Decatur Branch in 1990.

🠉 Top

Westlane Branch Library opens

The branch is located in the Westlane Shopping Center at 7141 North Michigan Road.

🠉 Top

Lawrence Branch Library opens

The branch is located in the old Lawrence Post Office building at 4419 North Franklin Road.

🠉 Top

Southport Branch Library opens

The new branch is located in the Madison Square Shopping Center at 6840 South Madison Avenue.

🠉 Top

Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library becomes a separate municipal corporation

The School Board’s Library District representatives divest the board of its control of the library to merge the city and county library districts. The Marion County Library Board resigns to make way for a new joint city-county library board.

🠉 Top

Library’s School Services Division dissolves

As a result of the establishment of individual school libraries, the division absorbs into the Indianapolis Public Schools system.

🠉 Top

Madison and Prospect Branch Libraries merge

After the Madison Avenue Branch closes in 1968 to make way for Interstate 70, it combines with the Prospect Branch and moves to a leased building at 1831 Prospect Street.

🠉 Top

Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Foundation established

The foundation forms to help raise additional funding for the rapidly growing library and to promote its continued development.

🠉 Top

Wanamaker Branch Library opens

The branch is located in a leased building at 8822 Southeastern Avenue. It closes in 2000.

🠉 Top

Wayne Branch Library opens

The branch is located in a shopping center at 7341 Rockville Road.

🠉 Top

Eagle Branch Library moves

The library moves the branch to a new 12,000-square-foot building constructed at 3325 Lowry Road.

🠉 Top

Brightwood Branch Library moves

The library moves the branch to the Brightwood Plaza Shopping Center at 2435 North Sherman Drive.

🠉 Top

Federally funded “Books-to-People” service project begins

The program funds library outreach programs including the Go-Go Library Van and the creation of a library inside the Marion County Jail. When federal funding ends in 1973, the library continues the programs as part of its extension services.

🠉 Top

Nora Branch Library opens

The new branch is located in a 15,000-square-foot building constructed at 8625 Guilford Avenue on a site that businessman Harrison Eiteljorg donated to IMCPL in 1968.

🠉 Top

Library Foundation holds its first book sale

The sale of books and periodicals weeded from the library’s collection raises money for library projects.

🠉 Top

New home delivery service begins

Volunteers deliver books requested by patrons who are homebound or unable to visit a library branch.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Raymond E. Gnat as Director of Public Libraries

The IMCPL Board unanimously chooses Gnat, who had worked nearly a decade as assistant librarian, to become library director after Harold Sander steps down.

🠉 Top

Library publishes first issue of Reading in Indianapolis

The newsletter provides library users with a mix of library news and events, and library staff contribute essays on books, film, records, current events, etc.

🠉 Top

Haughville Branch Library moves

The branch relocates to the Michigan Plaza Shopping Center at 3815 W. Michigan Street, leaving the old Haughville Town Hall building at 519 North Belleview Place, which it had occupied since 1901.

🠉 Top

Library Services Center opens

The library purchases the Riddick Warehouse building at 1435 N. Illinois Street in 1972 and renovates it to serve as the new Library Services Center.

🠉 Top

100th anniversary

“Library Centennial Day” kicks off the year-long 100th-anniversary celebration of the opening of the Indianapolis Public Library on April 9, 1873.

🠉 Top

Warren Branch Library opens

The branch is located in a 15,000-square-foot building constructed at 9701 East 21st Street.

🠉 Top

Southport Branch Library moves

The library moves the branch to a new 15,000-square-foot building constructed at 2630 East Stop 11 Road, replacing the shopping center branch opened in 1967.

🠉 Top

Central Library on National Register of Historic Places

The library succeeds at getting the 1917 Central Library building listed on the National Register.

🠉 Top

Business Library moves to Central Library

The Business Library collection is absorbed into the Science and Technology Division at Central Library as a cost-saving measure. The combined operation is renamed the Business, Science, and Technology Division.

🠉 Top

Dedication ceremony marks new addition to the Central Library Annex

Built on top of the one-story annex, a 40,000-square-foot, 5-story wing is added to Central Library. The new addition includes space for administrative offices, reading rooms, and more space for reading and audio-visual materials.

🠉 Top

Restoration of Central Library begins

The 1917 building undergoes massive restoration at the cost of $984,000. In addition to making improvements to restrooms, reading rooms, and hallways, renovations address accessibility issues including ramps and elevators.

🠉 Top

State distributes funds to Indiana public libraries for the first time

The Indianapolis Public Library receives $121,000 in state funds when the Indiana Library Association and the Indiana Library Trustees lobby successfully for state funding for libraries in the Indiana General Assembly.

🠉 Top

Fire at Library Service Center

A fire causes damage to the building, and it is closed for repairs until February 6, 1978.

🠉 Top

East Washington Branch Library closes for renovation

Building updates bring the 1911 Carnegie building up to current library standards and fire and building codes. It reopens with a gala celebration on July 30, 1978.

🠉 Top

First survey of the library’s salary and classification plan

Yarger and Associates, a management consulting firm for local and state governments, conducts the survey, which is evaluated and updated in 1982 and again in 1986.

🠉 Top

Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture series begins with author Saul Bellow

The library establishes the lecture series in McFadden’s name using a bequest of $150,000 from her estate.

🠉 Top

Art print loan service begins

The art lending gallery opens with about 400 prints of works by well-known artists. Library card holders can borrow 2 prints at a time for 60 days.

🠉 Top

Database reference service begins

A new computer terminal allows staff to use the Indiana Informational Retrieval System (INDIRS), which gives access to statistical data for Indiana’s 92 counties.

🠉 Top

Library connects to Ohio College Library Center bibliographic database (OCLC)

The library connects to OCLC that provides the library with access to a nationwide bibliographic database.

🠉 Top

Fire at Warren Library

The branch is closed for repairs until January 2, 1980.

🠉 Top

Flanner House Branch Library opens

The branch is located in the multiservice center at 2424 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street. It closes in 2018.

🠉 Top

Videotape loan service begins

The film division of the library adds nearly 1,000 videotapes to its collection.

🠉 Top

Card catalog available via computers

The library installs hardware and software that begins its on-line book acquisition, circulation, and public access catalog system. In April 1983, the Broadway Branch becomes the first agency to go on-line for circulation control.

🠉 Top

Wayne Branch Library moves

The library moves the branch to a 13,500-square-foot building constructed at 198 South Girls School Road, replacing the storefront facility that opened in December 1969.

🠉 Top

Lawrence Branch Library moves

The library moves the branch to a 13,500-square-foot building constructed at 7898 North Hague Road, replacing the leased facility opened in September 1967.

🠉 Top

Library installs first book security system

The Checkpoint, Inc. book-theft security system is installed at Central Library and six branch libraries.

🠉 Top

Library’s literacy program begins

In conjunction with the Greater Indianapolis Literacy League, the library provides literacy tutoring as well as a resume clinic and income tax assistance program.

🠉 Top

Audiocassette loan service begins

The Central Library shortly thereafter adds audio cassette tapes to its music room.

🠉 Top

Broad Ripple Branch Library moves

The library moves the branch to an 11,100-square-foot building constructed in Broad Ripple Park at 1550 Broad Ripple Avenue, replacing the facility at 6219 Guilford Avenue built in 1949.

🠉 Top

Westlane Branch Library moves and is renamed

The library moves the branch to a new 13,000-square-foot building constructed at 6525 Zionsville Road, replacing the storefront facility in the Westlane Shopping Center. It is renamed Pike Branch.

🠉 Top

Spades Park Branch Library closes for renovation

The 1912 Carnegie building undergoes renovations and reopens on October 24, 1987.

🠉 Top

West Indianapolis Branch Library moves

The library moves the branch to a new 5,000-square-foot building constructed at 1216 Kappes Street, replacing the 1912 Carnegie building.

🠉 Top

Renovations completed at Central Library

The renovation project, kicked off in 1984 with a Library Foundation fundraising campaign, includes the restoration of the ceiling mural, light fixtures, oak wainscoting, and the palm-leaf relief ceiling. New flooring and custom desks are also installed.

🠉 Top

Library participates in the 10th Pan American Games

The library publishes a resource guide for the international sports competition, titled “The Americas–1987.” It also presents a film series called “Perspectives on Pan American Culture Through Cinema.”

🠉 Top

Library mails a “Speak Out for Libraries” questionnaire to 309,000 households county-wide

The library sends the survey out as a tool to help plan for the development of its sites and services. It also conducts several open forums and an internal employee survey.

🠉 Top

First Meet the Artists exhibition

Indianapolis Public Library artist-in-residence Anthony Radford organizes the showcase that highlights the works of the city’s top African American visual artists. It becomes an annual event.

🠉 Top

Indianapolis Foundation creates the Library Fund

The Library Fund supplies grants to benefit information services at high schools in Marion County, the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library System, and libraries at IUPUI, Marian College, and the University of Indianapolis.

🠉 Top

Library board secures $6,500,000 bond

The funds go towards building the new Decatur Township Library and the Library Services Center as well as the renovation and enlargement of the Nora Branch Library and several other older branch libraries.

🠉 Top

Library purchases first desktop computers

The Public Relations office and Print Shop and seven other offices receive the computers. Within a year, the library has 324 desktop computers in the system for both public and staff use.

🠉 Top

Nora Branch Library renovations complete

The project expands the Nora Branch to 17,500 square feet, making it the largest branch library in the system.

🠉 Top

Decatur Branch Library opens

The new branch is located in an 11,300-square-foot building constructed at 5301 Kentucky Avenue.

🠉 Top

New Library Services Center opens

The new, 80,000-square-foot facility, at 24th and Meridian Streets, becomes home to the library’s technical services department, centralized registration, computer center, shipping and receiving, and administration offices.

🠉 Top

Call-a-Pacer program begins

Children can call a 24-hour phone line to hear stories read by a member of the Pacer basketball team.

🠉 Top

Library establishes “JV” designated cards

To appease concerned parents, a new policy makes it possible to limit children’s access to adult videos by stamping their cards with “JV.”

🠉 Top

Fountain Square Branch Library opens

The branch is located at 1066 Virginia Avenue in a 5,145-square-foot space and replaces the Prospect Branch. It closes in 2020.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Ed Szynaka as Director of Libraries

After Raymond Gnat retires, Szynaka becomes library director.

🠉 Top

Library begins shared system with Marion County high schools

Starting with Cathedral High School, the new program, through the Hi-Net shared system, allows students to access their school and the Indianapolis Public Library catalog. Within two years, 11 more schools join the shared system.

🠉 Top

Library board announces large bond issue

Designated to pay for several expansion and renovation projects, the bonds are issued at two separate times—$12.2 million in 1998 and $34.9 million in 2000.

🠉 Top

125th anniversary

The library celebrates with events throughout the year, including an amnesty week during which patrons could return overdue materials and have their fines forgiven.

🠉 Top

Library switches to new catalog database system

The library replaces the current CL Systems Inc. database with Horizon for its catalog. Commercial television station WXIN hosts a special live broadcast at the West Indianapolis Branch to demonstrate the new program.

🠉 Top

College Avenue Branch opens

The branch is located at 4180 North College Avenue and replaces the old Broadway Branch.

🠉 Top

Broad Ripple Branch moves and is renamed

The library moves branch to a larger space in the Glendale Mall. It is renamed the Glendale Branch Library.

🠉 Top

Franklin Branch opens

The new 18,000-square-foot branch is located at 5550 South Franklin Road. It replaces the Wanamaker Branch, which opened in 1969 on Southeastern Avenue.

🠉 Top

Pike Branch reopens after renovation

The 7,000-square-foot expansion project includes an increased collection of materials, more public seating, more personal computer workstations, an additional public meeting room, and more parking spaces.

🠉 Top

InfoZone Branch at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis opens

InfoZone is the first library branch in the world to be located in a children’s museum.

🠉 Top

eReaders available for check out

The pilot project makes a set of 10 Rocket eReaders available for patrons to check out from the Irvington Branch Library. They come loaded with five books.

🠉 Top

DVDs available for checkout

Patrons can now check out DVDs through the library’s shared system. They became available directly through the library in 2003.

🠉 Top

Library board approves funding for major Central expansion

The Library Board votes in favor of issuing $35 million in bonds to fund the expansion of the Central Library Branch.

🠉 Top

Irvington Branch opens

Located at 5625 E. Washington Street, the new 16,000-square-foot space replaces the old Brown Branch, which closed on October 3.

🠉 Top

Central Library moves to temporary location

The Old City Hall building, at 202 N. Alabama Street, becomes the temporary home for Central Library during its expansion and renovation.

🠉 Top

East 38th Street Branch opens

Located at 5420 E. 38th Street, the new 15,000-square-foot space expands collections, seating, public computer terminals, and outside parking.

🠉 Top

“One Book, One City” project begins

Working with city officials, the library encourages Indianapolis residents to read the same book and selects The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamy West for the project.

🠉 Top

Central Library expansion begins

The expansion of Central Library begins with the demolition of the five-story 1970s addition to the library.

🠉 Top

Library Board fires Ed Szynaka

The board votes 4-2 to remove Szynaka from his position, citing leadership issues. Laura Johnson takes over as interim CEO.

🠉 Top

New Haughville Branch building opens

The new 12,000-square-foot building at 2121 West Michigan Street replaces the storefront location in the Michigan Plaza Shopping Center.

🠉 Top

Library provides online access to archival material

The Digitization Archive, later renamed Digital Indy, collaborates with community organizations to scan and create digital images of Indianapolis’ history, people, events, organizations, and places. The first collection to be published is for The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Linda Mielke as CEO

Previously the director of the Carroll County Public Library system in Maryland, Mielke quickly implements cost-cutting measures and service changes.

🠉 Top

Branches receive self-checkout stations

The new self-check stations installed at 10 branches allow patrons to check out or renew items on their own, freeing branch staff to help patrons with other library needs.

🠉 Top

“My First Library Card” program begins for Pre-K to five years old

Focusing on early childhood literacy, the library establishes a fine-free library card for five-year-olds and under.

🠉 Top

Bunny Book Bag program begins

Book bags include a tote bag with 12 books appropriate for preschoolers. They can be checked out with a regular library card or a My First Library card.

🠉 Top

eAudio books made available for patrons to download via OneDrive

Due to increasing demand, the library makes over 550 audiobooks available for checkout via download to a computer or listening device.

🠉 Top

CEO Linda Mielke resigns

Unpopular with both staff and local media, Mielke resigns. Laura Bramble becomes interim CEO on January 18, 2007.

🠉 Top

Indiana Special Collections Room opens

Part of the major renovations to Central Library, the room houses and displays the library’s archive of materials related to the people and history of Indianapolis.

🠉 Top

Library workers establish union

Library staff adopt the AFSCME Local 335-Indy Library Workers charter to have more input in Library decisions.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Laura Bramble as CEO

The Library Board considers 3 potential candidates, all of whom are Indianapolis Public Library veterans, for the CEO position and selects Laura Bramble.

🠉 Top

New atrium opens at Central Library

Demolition of the mid-1970s annex and stacks makes way for the steel and glass tower that surrounds the historic 1917 building. The renovations double the size of the library.

🠉 Top

Baby Bunny Book Bag program begins

Following the success of the Bunny Book Bag program, the baby version includes 10 board books geared toward infants.

🠉 Top

OverDrive eBooks available to patrons

The library begins offering eBooks through OverDrive. eBooks can be checked out and read on a computer or other devices such as smartphones.

🠉 Top

American Library Association presents Library with “Library of the Future Award”

The library wins the award for “The Learning Curve” at Central Library–a programming space that combines high- and low-tech hands-on information for children to explore.

🠉 Top

Indy Library reduces service hours to keep all branches open

Reduced property tax revenues force the library to reduce public service hours systemwide to save money. The shortfall also results in the layoff of 37 staff members.

🠉 Top

Library Foundation publishes Stacks: A History of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library

The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Foundation commissions the book, written by S. L. Berry with contributions from Mary Ellen Gadski. It tells the story of the library from its origins in 1873 to 2011.

🠉 Top

Library eBooks available for Kindle eReaders

Patrons can now download the library’s eBook collection to a Kindle device or any mobile device running the free Kindle app.

🠉 Top

Shelby Branch renamed Garfield Park Branch

The Shelby Branch undergoes a four-month renovation to modernize services and improve energy efficiency. It is also renamed the Garfield Park Branch.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Jackie Nytes as CEO

Nytes, who previously worked for the library as associate director of Management Services and then as chief financial officer (1998-2001), becomes CEO following Laura Bramble’s retirement.

🠉 Top

Text a Librarian program begins

The service allows Library patrons to send questions to librarians through the text message feature of their cell phones.

🠉 Top

Seed Library program starts

The program makes seeds available to patrons for free pickup at several branch locations from mid-March through September.

🠉 Top

Library adds Hoopla Video & Music Streaming

Through a partnership with Hoopla Digital, the Library makes movies, TV shows, and music albums available to patrons for free streaming to a computer or mobile device.

🠉 Top

Beech Grove Library merges with Indianapolis Public Library system

The merger makes Beech Grove the Library’s 24th branch. It provides greater access to Library resources for south side patrons.

🠉 Top

American Library Association presents Library with another “Library of the Future Award”

The association recognizes the library for its eBook Tinker Stations that show patrons how to use their personal devices to download items from the library’s growing digital collections, which include eBooks, eAudiobooks, and free streaming of videos and music.

🠉 Top

Warren Branch renovation complete

The $1.1 million renovation includes additional public seating, dedicated study and activity areas, and computers and power outlets for patron use.

🠉 Top

Southport Branch renovation complete

The renovations include a new entrance closer to the parking lot, a public computer area, two group study rooms, updated and fully accessible restrooms, and a new community room.

🠉 Top

Library launches its 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten initiative

The program helps to prepare children for academic success and to instill a lifelong love of reading. To participate, caregivers track and log their child’s progress on a form provided by the library. Prizes are awarded for levels of 100, 500, and 1,000 books read.

🠉 Top

Central Library’s 100th anniversary

The library unveils a time capsule sealed into Central Library during its construction to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its opening day. The library hosts several other special programs throughout September and October to celebrate the event.

🠉 Top

East Washington Branch reopens after renovations

The $2.4 million renovation project includes a 2,200-square-foot expansion, a 16-unit computer lab, and a new children’s program space.

🠉 Top

Central Library time capsule opened

The time capsule from March 24, 1916 is opened as part of the Centennial Celebration of Central Library. Among the items in the time capsule are original works by Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, coins, postcard photos, documents relating to Library operations, and many other historic artifacts.

🠉 Top

Indianapolis Public Central Library Opens Center for Black Literature And Culture (CBLC)

The center, located in the library’s West Reading Room, features a collection of books, interactive displays, and research tools to aid in exploring the Black experience in Indianapolis.

🠉 Top

Indianapolis Public Library integrates the Chris Gonzalez Library and Archives into its collection

The Library and Indy Pride, Inc. partner to integrate the over 7,000-piece collection specific to the LGBTQ+ community into Central Library and to create a permanent LGBTQ+ exhibit.

🠉 Top

Michigan Road Branch opens

Located at 6201 Michigan Road, the new 20,000-square-foot branch includes spaces for children, teens, and adults as well as a large community room for large groups.

🠉 Top

Beech Grove Library renovations complete

The $151,000 renovation includes a larger children’s area, increased patron seating, and the creation of a single entrance point.

🠉 Top

New Eagle Branch opens

The Lowry Road facility is replaced by a new 20,000-square-foot building at 3905 Moller Road.

🠉 Top

East Washington Branch Library receives LEED certification

The branch receives LEED v4 certification for its energy efficiency and environmental design to become the first public building in Indiana to meet the new higher standards implemented by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2013.

🠉 Top

Library launches Polaris database

The library switches its database provider from Horizon (shut down January 18) to Polaris.

🠉 Top

All library branches close due to COVID-19

The library expands access to digital resources, and in May, curbside service begins.

🠉 Top

IndyPL begins a phased reopening of branches after COVID-19 closures

Branches reopen slowly over a two-week period. Curbside delivery continues and several safety measures are implemented including requiring masks, limiting capacity, social distancing of six feet, and a one-hour time limit on public computers.

🠉 Top

Martindale-Brightwood Branch opens

The brand-new branch building, across the street from the previous Brightwood Branch building, is completed and re-named as the Martindale-Brightwood Branch.

🠉 Top

Wayne Branch reopens after renovations

The 13,500-square-foot facility, located at 198 S. Girl School Road, undergoes its first renovation since its opening in 1983.

🠉 Top

Library and Indy Arts Council launch the Murals for Racial Justice Project

The Murals for Racial Justice Project, an initiative of the Arts Council of Indianapolis, commissions 22 Black artists to create 24 temporary murals on boarded-up storefronts in downtown Indianapolis. The works are later recreated on banners displayed at the Central Library and available for educational use by the community.

🠉 Top

Lawrence Branch reopens after renovations

The Lawrence Branch reopens after 10 months of extensive renovations costing $1.5 million. New features include an updated entrance; more windows, new public restrooms; added outlets and charging stations; and new spaces for kids, teens, and adults.

🠉 Top

Indianapolis Public Library staff protest racism in the library

A group of Indianapolis Public Library workers call for action, including the resignation of the CEO, after years of incidents of racism and discrimination in the library system continue to go unaddressed.

🠉 Top

Library launches climate study

The Library Board hires the Racial Equity Solutions Team of Ice Miller, LLP to lead a climate study to evaluate the experiences of staff in regard to equity and inclusion in the workplace.

🠉 Top

Library goes fine free, forgiving $2 million worth of fines

The library implements its new fine-free policy to erase barriers to library use and to support citywide efforts to build equity in Indianapolis.

🠉 Top

Library hires first social worker

Yanna McGraw becomes the library’s first full-time social worker. She helps patrons with such issues as housing insecurity and identifying available mental health services.

🠉 Top

Grand opening of new West Perry Branch

The new branch at 6650 South Harding St. replaces the Fountain Square branch.

🠉 Top

Martindale-Brightwood Branch achieves LEED status

The branch achieves LEED Silver Certification, joining the East Washington Branch, the Michigan Road Branch (Silver), and the Eagle Branch (Gold) as LEED-certified buildings.

🠉 Top

CEO Jackie Nytes steps down

After staff protests about racism within the Library, Nytes and the Library Board determine the best course of action is for Nytes to leave her role as CEO.

🠉 Top

Library appoints John Helling as interim CEO

Helling, the library’s chief public services officer, takes on the role of interim CEO after Nytes steps down.

🠉 Top

Library hires first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer

In this role, Keesha Hughes works to assess, design, develop, implement, research, and evaluate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

🠉 Top

Encyclopedia of Indianapolis website launches

A legacy project of the Indianapolis Bicentennial Commission, the digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis updates and expands upon the original 1994 Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, adding new content to reflect developments in the culture and landscape of Indianapolis since 1994.

🠉 Top

Library adds Black authors’ names to Central Library engravings

The inclusion of 10 Black authors’ names whose works span pre-Civil War to the civil rights movement and beyond are added to the walls of Central Library. The library aims to add additional names of authors of color in the years to come.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Nichelle Hayes as interim CEO

The board votes unanimously to appoint Nichelle Hayes, the manager of the Center for Black Literature & Culture, as the next interim CEO.

🠉 Top

Library appoints Gregory Hill as acting CEO

After a candidate declines the offer following public protests, the library board appoints interim Chief Public Services Officer Gregory Hill as acting CEO.

🠉 Top

Gregory Hill appointed CEO

The library board selects Hill, who started working at the library in 2011 as a clerk, as the new CEO.

🠉 Top

Fort Ben Library Branch opens

The new 22,000-square-foot branch is constructed to fill a service gap between the Lawrence Branch on the northeast side and the Warren Branch on the far east side.

🠉 Top