Indianapolis Public Library | |
---|---|
Location | Indianapolis, Indiana, United States |
Established | 1873 |
Branches | 24 |
Access and use | |
Circulation | 7,077,479 [1] |
Population served | 952,389 [2] |
Other information | |
Budget | $60,087,318 [2] |
Director | Gregory A. Hill |
Employees | 600+ [3] |
Website | indypl.org |
The Indianapolis Public Library (IndyPL), formerly known as the Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library, is the public library system serving the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United States and its largest city, Indianapolis. The library was founded in 1873 and has grown to include its flagship Central Library and 24 branch libraries located throughout the county. In 2021, the public library system circulated 7.1 million items and hosted more than 2,500 programs for its 282,000 cardholders. [4]
The Indianapolis Public Library system attributes its beginnings to a Thanksgiving Day, 1868, sermon by Hanford A. Edson, pastor of the Memorial Presbyterian Church (which would later become Second Presbyterian Church), who issued a plea for a free public library in Indianapolis. As a result, 113 residents formed the Indianapolis Library Association on March 18, 1869. In 1870, under the leadership of the superintendent of public schools, Abram C. Shortridge, citizens drafted a revision of Indiana school law to provide public libraries controlled by a board of school commissioners. The bill passed the Indiana General Assembly, allowing school boards to levy taxes to establish and maintain public libraries. [5]
In 1872, the public library committee of the school board hired Cincinnati librarian William Frederick Poole to begin a collection for the new library and appointed Charles Evans as the first librarian. Indianapolis' first public library opened in one room of the Indianapolis High School building at the northeast corner of Pennsylvania and Michigan streets on April 8, 1873. [6] Upon opening, the library's collection numbered 13,000 volumes and registered 500 borrowers. By the end of its first full year of operation, some 3,000 patrons borrowed more than 100,000 books. [6] Later, as the need for more space grew, the library moved to the Sentinel Building on Monument Circle (1876–1880) and the Alvord House at Pennsylvania and Ohio streets (1880–1893). [5]
Evans served as librarian until 1878, and again from 1889 to 1892. Evans' successors were Albert B. Yohn (1878–1879), Arthur W. Tyler (1879–1883), and William deM. Hooper (1883–1889). Eliza G. Browning succeeded Evans in his second tenure, holding the position from 1892 to 1917. During her leadership, the library moved to the first building constructed solely for its purpose, located on the southwest corner of Ohio and Meridian streets in 1893, and opened its first library branch opened in 1906 on Clifton Street in the Riverside neighborhood. [6] Between 1910 and 1914, another five library branches were built with $120,000 donated by Andrew Carnegie. [6] As of 2020, two of these libraries—East Washington and Spades Park—are still active branches. Before her resignation, Browning initiated work on a new Central Library located partially on land donated by Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley in 1911. [5] [6]
Charles E. Rush succeeded Browning, serving as librarian from 1917 until 1927. His successors were Luther L. Dickerson (1927–1944) and Marian McFadden (1944–1955). During this period, eight new branch libraries were opened, and the system's collections expanded to include films, newspapers on microfilm, and phonorecords. Additionally, bookmobile service began in 1952. [5]
Harold J. Sander, who served as director from 1956 to 1971, presided over the opening of ten new branch libraries and undertook a reorganization of the Central Library in 1960 that departmentalized services. Before 1966, the library system served only those areas of the city under the jurisdiction of Indianapolis Public Schools, leaving more than 200,000 Marion County residents without access to free public library services. From 1966 to 1968, the newly formed Marion County Public Library Board contracted with the Indianapolis Public Library for service to county residents. In 1968, the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners relinquished responsibility for library service, allowing the city and county library systems to merge. This established the Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library as a municipal corporation serving all Marion County residents, except for Beech Grove and Speedway. [5]
Raymond E. Gnat succeeded Sander as library director in 1972. Essential library services were computerized between 1982 and 1991. By the early 1990s, the public library system encompassed 21 branches and three bookmobiles. In 1991, some seven million items were circulated among 470,000 registered borrowers and 3.4 million inquiries were answered. At this time, the library collection contained nearly 1.7 million materials staffed by 410 full-time employees. [5] Ed Szynaka served as director from 1994 until 2003, presiding over capital improvements to eight branch libraries, including the relocation of the Broad Ripple Branch to the Glendale Town Center. [7] The Glendale Branch opened in 2000 as the first full-service library at a major shopping center in the U.S. [8] Laura Johnston served in an interim role from 2003 to 2004 until the appointment of Linda Mielke, who served from 2004 until 2007. [7] She was succeeded by Laura Bramble. [7] Following the Great Recession and a successful state ballot measure to cap property taxes in 2008, the Indianapolis Public Library faced a budget shortfall of $4 million in 2010. [9] [10] After considering closing six branches, officials decided to reduce branch hours by 26 percent, layoff 37 employees, and increase fines. [7] [11] [12] [13]
Jackie Nytes served as the chief executive officer from 2012 until 2021, when she stepped down from her position. [14] [15] [16] During Nytes' leadership in 2014, the library board received approval from the Indianapolis City-County Council to issue $58.5 million in bonds to renovate and relocate existing branches and construct new ones during the following decade. [17] [18] In April 2016, the boards of the Indianapolis and the Beech Grove public libraries voted to merge. Beech Grove's library becoming the twenty-third branch of the Indianapolis system on June 1, 2016. [19] In 2021, the Indianapolis Public Library terminated its late fee policy, waiving fines for more than 87,000 accounts for overdue items. [20]
Jackie Nytes resigned from the position of CEO following protests and allegations of racism. [21] John Helling was named interim chief executive officer at the August 23, 2021. [22] Helling served until March 2022, when Nichelle Hayes was appointed as interim CEO. [23] Although Hayes was a finalist for the position of CEO, a divided board appointed Gregory Hill to the position on April 24, 2023. [24]
The library website provides access to the library's catalog, online collections, digital archives, and subscription databases. The Bibliocommons catalog allows users to search the library's holdings of books, journals, and other materials. It also enables cardholders to request books from any branch and have them delivered to any branch for pickup.
IndyPL gives cardholders free access from home to thousands of current and historical magazines, newspapers, journals, and reference books in subscription databases, including EBSCOhost, which contains the full text of major magazines, the Indianapolis Star (1903–present), and the New York Times (1851–present). [25] E-books (including downloadable audiobooks) are more popular than physical items, with five electronic resources being checked out for each one printed book, CD, or other physical resource. [26] In 2023, the most checked-out item in the IPL system was electronic copies of The New Yorker magazine, which were borrowed 6,800 times; the most popular e-book was Spare. [26]
The Indianapolis Public Library Digital Archives (Digital Indy) is a freely accessible database of over 200,000 digital images and recordings of cultural and historical interest. The collections in this archive highlight Indianapolis schools, arts organizations, neighborhoods, governmental institutions, and other groups. [27]
The library offers the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, a free-access, web-based encyclopedia providing comprehensive social, cultural, economic, historical, political, and physical descriptions of Indianapolis. The updated Encyclopedia of Indianapolis was created in partnership with The Polis Center of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis and several other major historical and cultural institutions and builds on the information featured in the original print encyclopedia published by The Polis Center in 1994. [28]
The public library offers library services to Indianapolis schools and museums through its Shared System services. The system allows members and students to use their IndyPL library cards to borrow materials from their library as well as IndyPL's collection through the library's catalog. Local museums and special libraries sharing the catalog include the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, the Indiana Medical History Museum, the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, the BJE Maurer Jewish Community Library, and Riley Hospital for Children. [29]
The Central Library building was designed by Philadelphia-based architect Paul Philippe Cret (with Zantzinger, Borie and Medary). [30] The original Central Library building was constructed in Greek Doric style architecture, faced with Indiana limestone on a Vermont marble base. Central Library opened to the public on October 8, 1917. [5]
Central Library contains some distinguished architectural design elements. The main reading room 100 feet (30 m) by 45 feet (14 m) inside the main entrance has two flights of Maryland marble stairs, two 30 feet (9.1 m) diameter bronze light fixtures, and an ornamental ceiling designed by C. C. Zantzinger. The ceiling includes oil-on-canvas medallions and printers' colophons accompanied by a series of bas-relief plaster plaques depicting early-Indiana history. Reading rooms at the top of each staircase have wood paneling above oak bookcases and large leaded glass windows. [5] Central Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 28, 1975.
Central Library has undergone several expansions and renovations over the years. A 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) annex to the Central Library was completed in 1975 and the restoration of historically significant architecture was completed in the 1980s. [5] In 2001, Indianapolis-based architectural firm Woollen, Molzan and Partners was commissioned to renovate the historic building, expand with a six-story addition, and incorporate an underground parking garage. The new curved glass and steel facility and atrium would connect to the Cret-designed building, replacing the annex built in the 1970s. The $104 million project doubled the size of the library but proved controversial due to some design and construction flaws. [7] The renovated Central Library and its new atrium addition opened on December 9, 2007, two years behind schedule and over budget. [31] [32] [33]
The Central Library houses the Indianapolis Special Collections Room, named for newspaper executive Nina Mason Pulliam. The collection contains a variety of archival adult and children's materials, both fiction and nonfiction books by local authors, photographs, scrapbooks, typescripts, manuscripts, autographed editions, letters, newspapers, magazines, and realia. The collection features Kurt Vonnegut, May Wright Sewall, the Woollen family, James Whitcomb Riley, and Booth Tarkington. [34]
The 3,800-square-foot (350 m2) Center for Black Literature & Culture opened in 2017, provided by $1.3 million in grant funding from the Lilly Endowment. The center houses some 10,000 books, magazines, DVDs, and e-books with plans to qruple the collection to 40,000 items over the next five years. The center's window banners pay tribute to local Black figures, including former Indiana Fever basketball player, Tamika Catchings, poet and playwright, Mari Evans, and Congresswoman Julia Carson. [35] Phase II of the project commenced after an Indianapolis City-County Council committee issued $5.3 million in bonds for facility upgrades and projects in July 2020. [36]
In 2019, the Indianapolis Public Library, in partnership with Indy Pride and others, dedicated the Chris Gonzalez Collection, named for LGBTQ activist and Indiana Youth Group co-founder Christopher T. Gonzalez. The collection of 7,000 items relating to local and national LGBTQ+ history and culture was merged with the Central Library collection. [37] [38]
The Indianapolis Public Library system operates 24 branch libraries and provides bookmobile services. Eagle and Martindale–Brightwood branches relocated to new buildings in 2019 and 2020, respectively, while the Michigan Road Branch opened in 2018 (replacing the closed Flanner House Branch). [39] Fountain Square Branch was closed in 2020. [40] West Perry Branch opened in July 2021, [41] followed by the Fort Ben Branch, which opened in Lawrence, Indiana, in August 2023. [42] A new standalone building is under construction for the Glendale Branch in Washington Township. [43]
Name | Est. | Built | Location | Notes | Image | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beech Grove | 1951 | 1953 | 39°43′19″N86°05′41″W / 39.7219°N 86.0946°W | The branch is located in the city of Beech Grove. It was absorbed by the Indianapolis Public Library in 2016. | ||
College Avenue | 1924 | 2000 | 39°49′55″N86°08′44″W / 39.8320°N 86.1455°W | Until its relocation in 2000, the library was named the Broadway Branch. | ||
Decatur | 1967 | 1990 | 39°41′12″N86°16′43″W / 39.6868°N 86.2786°W | Until its relocation in 1990, the library was named the Marwood Branch. | ||
Eagle | 1960 | 2019 | 39°49′34″N86°15′19″W / 39.8262°N 86.2554°W | |||
East 38th Street | 1957 | 2003 | 39°49′33″N86°04′34″W / 39.8257°N 86.0762°W | Until its relocation in 2003, the library was named the Emerson Branch. | ||
East Washington | 1911 | 1911 | 39°46′07″N86°06′57″W / 39.7686°N 86.1158°W | Established as Indianapolis Public Library Branch No. 3, it is one of two Carnegie library buildings in Indianapolis still used for its original purpose. | ||
Fort Ben | 2023 | 2023 | 39°51′21″N86°00′12″W / 39.8558°N 86.0034°W | The branch is located in the city of Lawrence. | ||
Franklin Road | 1969 | 2000 | 39°41′15″N86°01′09″W / 39.6875°N 86.0192°W | Until its relocation in 2000, the library was named the Wanamaker Branch. | ||
Garfield Park | 1918 | 1965 | 39°43′55″N86°08′24″W / 39.7319°N 86.1400°W | Until 2011, the library was named the Shelby Branch. [44] | ||
Glendale | 1949 | 2000 | 39°51′56″N86°07′12″W / 39.8656°N 86.1199°W | The library was established as the Broad Ripple Branch, adopting the Glendale name when it relocated to a storefront at Glendale Town Center in 2000. [45] A new standalone library branch is under construction and expected to open in the first quarter of 2024. [43] | ||
Haughville | 1896 | 2003 | 39°46′28″N86°11′51″W / 39.7744°N 86.1974°W | |||
InfoZone | 2000 | 2000 | 39°48′40″N86°09′29″W / 39.8110°N 86.1580°W | The branch is located on the second floor of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. | ||
Irvington | 1903 | 2001 | 39°46′13″N86°04′15″W / 39.7703°N 86.0709°W | The branch was established at the Bona Thompson Memorial Center. It was known as the Brown Branch from 1956 until its relocation in 2001. | ||
Lawrence | 1967 | 1983 | 39°53′52″N86°02′02″W / 39.8979°N 86.0338°W | |||
Martindale–Brightwood | 1901 | 2020 | 39°48′11″N86°06′10″W / 39.8031°N 86.1027°W | Until its relocation in 2020, the library was named the Brightwood Branch. | ||
Michigan Road | 2018 | 2018 | 39°52′07″N86°12′05″W / 39.8687°N 86.2013°W | |||
Nora | 1971 | 1971 | 39°54′47″N86°08′29″W / 39.9130°N 86.1415°W | |||
Pike | 1967 | 1986 | 39°52′29″N86°15′32″W / 39.8748°N 86.2588°W | Until its relocation in 1986, the library was named the Westlane Branch. | ||
Southport | 1967 | 1974 | 39°39′03″N86°07′03″W / 39.6509°N 86.1175°W | |||
Spades Park | 1912 | 1912 | 39°47′06″N86°07′44″W / 39.7849°N 86.1289°W | Established as Indianapolis Public Library Branch No. 6, it is one of two Carnegie library buildings in Indianapolis still used for its original purpose. | ||
Warren | 1974 | 1974 | 39°47′46″N85°59′44″W / 39.7961°N 85.9955°W | |||
Wayne | 1969 | 1983 | 39°45′40″N86°17′23″W / 39.7612°N 86.2898°W | |||
West Indianapolis | 1897 | 1986 | 39°45′03″N86°11′41″W / 39.7507°N 86.1946°W | |||
West Perry | 2021 | 2021 | 39°39′57″N86°11′15″W / 39.6659°N 86.1876°W |
Indianapolis, colloquially known as Indy, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. Indianapolis is situated in the state's central till plain region along the west fork of the White River. The city's official slogan, "Crossroads of America", reflects its historic importance as a transportation hub and its relative proximity to other major North American markets.
Marion County is located in the U.S. state of Indiana. The 2020 United States census reported a population of 977,203, making it the most populous county in the state and the 54th-most populous county in the U.S. Indianapolis is the county seat, the state capital, and most populous city. Marion County is consolidated with Indianapolis through an arrangement known as Unigov. Marion County is the central county of the Indianapolis–Carmel–Anderson MSA in Central Indiana.
The Indianapolis metropolitan area is an 11-county metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Indiana. Its principal cities are Indianapolis, Carmel, Greenwood, and Anderson. Other primary cities with populations of more than 50,000 include Fishers, Noblesville, and Westfield. Located in Central Indiana, it is the largest metropolitan area entirely within Indiana and the seventh largest in the American Midwest.
The flag of Indianapolis has a dark blue field with a white five-pointed star pointing upwards in the center. Around the star is a circular field in red. Surrounding the red field is a white ring, from which extend four white stripes from top to bottom and from hoist to fly, thus creating four equal quadrants in the field. The stripes are about one-seventh the width of the flag, with the white ring the same width as the stripes. The diameter of the red circle is about two-ninths the width of the flag.
The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a 152-acre (62 ha) campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, the Gardens at Newfields, the Beer Garden, and more. It is located at the corner of North Michigan Road and West 38th Street, about three miles north of downtown Indianapolis, northwest of Crown Hill Cemetery. There are exhibitions, classes, tours, and events, many of which change seasonally. The entire campus and organization was previously referred to as the Indianapolis Museum of Art, but in 2017 the campus and organization were renamed "Newfields" as part of a branding campaign. The "Indianapolis Museum of Art" now specifically refers to the main art museum building that acts as the cornerstone of the campus, as well as the legal name of the organization doing business as Newfields.
Downtown Indianapolis is a neighborhood area and the central business district of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Downtown is bordered by Interstate 65, Interstate 70, and the White River, and is situated near the geographic center of Marion County. Downtown has grown from the original 1821 town plat—often referred to as the Mile Square—to encompass a broader geographic area of central Indianapolis, containing several smaller historic neighborhoods.
Castleton is a neighborhood area in Lawrence and Washington townships on the northeast side of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. After shortly over a century of being an independent town, the locality was included in Indianapolis as part of Unigov consolidation in 1970 and was further dissolved in 1992. It is a primarily commercial district today.
The Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation, branded as IndyGo, is a public transit agency and municipal corporation of the City of Indianapolis in the U.S. state of Indiana. It operates fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtransit, and paratransit services.
The Indiana World War Memorial Plaza is an urban feature and war memorial located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, originally built to honor the veterans of World War I. It was conceived in 1919 as a location for the national headquarters of the American Legion and a memorial to the state's and nation's veterans.
The City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County is the legislative body of the combined government of the city of Indianapolis and the county of Marion in the state of Indiana. The council was established as part of the consolidation of city and county governments, enacted by Unigov on January 1, 1970.
The Government of Indianapolis—officially the Consolidated City of Indianapolis and Marion County—is a strong-mayor form of mayor-council government system. Local government is headquartered downtown at the City-County Building.
Clowes Memorial Hall, officially known as Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler University, is a performance hall located on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Opened October 18, 1963, it hosts numerous significant concerts, orchestras, musicals, plays, and guest speakers. Clowes Hall anchors the Butler Arts and Events Center, which includes the Schrott Center for the Arts, Shelton Auditorium, the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall, and the Lilly Hall Studio Theatre.
Transportation in Indianapolis consists of a complex network that includes a local public bus system, several private intercity bus providers, Amtrak passenger rail service, four freight rail lines, an Interstate Highway System, an airport, a heliport, bikeshare system, 115 miles (185 km) of bike lanes, and 116 miles (187 km) of trails and greenways. The city has also become known for its prevalence of electric scooters.
Woollen, Molzan and Partners (WMP) is a U.S.-based second-generation architecture, interior design, and planning firm that Evans Woollen III founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1955. The firm was previously known as Evans Woollen and Associates and Woollen Associates. It remained in business for more than fifty-five years before closing its doors in 2011. Woollen began by designing mid-century modern residences, but the firm's design projects expanded to include a diverse portfolio of designs for libraries, worship facilities, museums, performing arts centers, private residences, public housing, and correctional facilities, among other projects.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.
Evans Woollen III was an American architect who is credited for introducing the Modern and the Brutalist architecture styles to his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. Woollen, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) and a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture, was active in the field from the mid-1950s to the early 2000s. He established his own architecture firm in Indianapolis in 1955 that became known as Woollen, Molzan and Partners; it dissolved in 2011. As a pacesetter among architects in the Midwest, Woollen, dubbed the dean of Indiana architects, was noted for his use of bold materials and provocative, modern designs.
The economy of Indianapolis is centered on the City of Indianapolis and Marion County within the context of the larger Indianapolis metropolitan area. The Indianapolis–Carmel–Anderson, IN MSA, had a gross domestic product (GDP) of $134 billion in 2015. The top five industries were: finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing ($30.7B), manufacturing ($30.1B), professional and business services ($14.3B), educational services, health care, and social assistance ($10.8B), and wholesale trade ($8.1B). Government, if it had been a private industry, would have ranked fifth, generating $10.2 billion.
Central Library is the main branch of the Indianapolis Public Library in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The building was designed by Philadelphia-based architect Paul Philippe Cret. The original Central Library building was constructed in Greek Doric style architecture, faced with Indiana limestone on a Vermont marble base. Central Library opened to the public on October 8, 1917. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Central Library on August 28, 1975.