| District of Columbia Public Library | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Established | 1896 |
| Branches | 26 |
| Access and use | |
| Population served | 700,000 |
| Other information | |
| Budget | $58 Million [1] |
| Director | Richard Reyes-Gavilan [2] |
| Website | www |
The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) is the public library system for Washington, D.C. The system includes 26 individual libraries including Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, DCPL's central library. [3]
In October of 1895, in preparation of the library's establishment, founders rented two rooms in the McLean Building at 1517 H Street NW to begin acquiring and processing materials to be used in what would then be called the Washington City Free Library. [4]
The library was founded in 1896 by an act of Congress after a lobbying effort by Theodore W. Noyes, editor of the Washington Evening Star newspaper. Noyes served on the library's board of trustees for 50 years. [5]
The first library branch following congressional authorization was located in a home at 1326 New York Avenue NW, with a collection of 15,000 donated books and an appropriation of $6,720 for its maintenance. [6]
This was replaced by a main library, donated by Andrew Carnegie, built at Mount Vernon Square, which now houses the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and an Apple Store. President Theodore Roosevelt attended the dedication of this building in 1903. [5] [7] Several of the branch libraries still in use were also built with funds donated by Carnegie.
In 1972, the main library was replaced by a Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed building dedicated as a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr.
DCPL is an independent agency of the District of Columbia government, [8] managed by a Chief Librarian that is selected and reviewed by a Board of Library Trustees. The Board of Library Trustees are appointed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia, subject to review and approval by the Council of the District of Columbia. [9] The budget is also determined by the Council of the District of Columbia based on a request submitted by the Mayor as part of the annual budget process for the entire government. The United States Congress also has to approve of the District's budget as a part of their oversight of the District of Columbia as the nation's capital.
The Chief Librarian is often invited to attend the Mayor's Cabinet meetings and works closely with the District Administrator on how to execute the DCPL budget. The District's Chief Financial Officer provides a fiscal officer from that office to ensure that financial practices within DCPL meet with District requirements. DCPL also has independent procurement authority, allowing them to execute contracts for books, electronic resources, furniture, equipment, and construction services.
In addition to the Board of Library Trustees, the Council of the District of Columbia provides oversight for DCPL via a Council Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs. [10] Previously, libraries were managed by the Committee on Education. [11] The DC Council routinely has Performance Oversight and Budget hearings for the D.C. libraries annually.
The DCPL has its own small police force, the District of Columbia Public Library Police. The Library Police's duties and mission is similar to District of Columbia Protective Services Division: to protect government property, staff, and the public. The types of incidents that occur are thefts, assaults, destruction of property, and so on. [12]
In addition to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library — the system's central library — the D.C. Public Library has 26 neighborhood branch library locations throughout the city and operates a location at the city's jail.
The first neighborhood branch was the Takoma Park Neighborhood Library. As of 2024, the last new full-service branch to open (and not replace a previous building) was the Rosedale Neighborhood Library, opening in 2012 in Kingman Park. The most recent rebuilt library to open was the Lamond-Riggs/Lillian J. Huff Neighborhood Library, which opened in 2022 in Queens Chapel.
In 2023, library officials announced that they were considering whether to close the Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library and relocate it further south to fill a service gap. [13] In 2024, construction started on a two-year renovation project for the Southeast Neighborhood Library on Capitol Hill, [14] while the city started the process toward replacing the Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library with a new development that would include a library and affordable housing at the same location. [15]
The D.C. Public Library runs a program called Books from Birth. [16] The program is for children aged newborn to 5. All enrolled children receive a book in the mail every month. All children who live in the District are eligible. The program runs in partnership with Imagination Library, a nonprofit run by singer Dolly Parton's Dollywood Foundation. The D.C. program launched in 2016, and as of November 2017, 57 percent of eligible children are enrolled (27,000 children). [16]
The District of Columbia Public library issues library cards without charge to non-residents who work in, pay property taxes to, or go to school in the District of Columbia. It also will issue them to residents of jurisdictions that will reciprocate for District of Columbia residents, this includes residents of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland, as well as residents of the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church, and Arlington, Fairfax, Frederick, Loudoun and Prince William counties in Virginia. Residents of other areas not otherwise qualifying may obtain a card for $20 a year. [17]
Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea City", is a Tree City USA and a nuclear-free zone. A planned commuter suburb, it is situated along the Metropolitan Branch of the historic Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, just northeast of Washington, D.C., and it shares a border and history with the adjacent Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Takoma. It is governed by an elected mayor and six elected councilmembers, who form the city council, and an appointed city manager, under a council-manager style of government. The city's population was 17,629 at the 2020 census.
Northwest is the northwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located north of the National Mall and west of North Capitol Street. It is the largest of the four quadrants of the city, and it includes the central business district, the Federal Triangle, and the museums along the northern side of the National Mall, as well as many of the District's historic neighborhoods.
Friendship Heights is an urban commercial and residential neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C., and southern Montgomery County, Maryland. Though its borders are not clearly defined, Friendship Heights consists roughly of the neighborhoods and commercial areas around Wisconsin Avenue north of Fessenden Street NW and Tenleytown to Somerset Terrace and Willard Avenue in Maryland, and from River Road in the west to Reno Road and 41st Street in the east. Within Maryland west of Wisconsin Avenue is the Village of Friendship Heights, technically a special taxation district.
Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) are bodies of local government in the District of Columbia, the capital city of the United States. The ANC system was created in 1974 through a referendum in the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The first elections for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners were held in the fall of 1975, and commissions began operating in 1976. Congressman Don Fraser (D-Minn) and D.C. resident Milton Kotler helped to draft the ANC language in the Home Rule Act based on the success of Adams Morgan Organization (AMO) in Adams Morgan and on a 1970 report of the Minneapolis Citizen League, as well as on related neighborhood corporations in Pittsburgh; Brooklyn, New York; Chicago; and Columbus, Ohio.
Chevy Chase is a neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. It borders Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, are distinguished by their history, culture, architecture, demographics, and geography. The names of 131 neighborhoods are unofficially defined by the D.C. Office of Planning. Neighborhoods can be defined by the boundaries of wards, historic districts, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, civic associations, and business improvement districts (BIDs); these boundaries will overlap. The eight wards each elect a member to the Council of the District of Columbia and are redistricted every ten years.
Takoma, Washington, D.C., is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. It is located in Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4B, in the District's Fourth Ward, within the northwest quadrant. It borders the city of Takoma Park, Maryland.
New Hampshire Avenue is a diagonal avenue in Washington, D.C., beginning at the Kennedy Center and extending northeast for about 5 miles (8 km) and then continuing into Maryland, where it is designated Maryland Route 650. New Hampshire Avenue is not contiguous. It stops at 15th and W Streets NW, and resumes again on the other side of Columbia Heights at Park Road NW, a few blocks from Georgia Avenue.
Bellevue is a residential neighborhood in far Southeast and Southwest in Washington, D.C., United States. It is bounded by South Capitol Street, one block of Atlantic Street SE, and 1st Streets SE and SW to the north and east; Joliet Street SW and Oxon Run Parkway to the south; Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, Shepherd Parkway, 2nd Street SW, and Xenia Street SW to the west. Bellevue was created from some of the earliest land patents in Maryland, and draws its name from a 1795 mansion built in the area. Subdivisions began in the 1870s, but extensive residential building did not occur until the early 1940s. Bellevue is adjacent to a number of federal and city agency buildings.
Washington Highlands is a residential neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C., in the United States. It lies within Ward 8. Bounded by Oxon Run Park(Oxon-Run Trail)SE, Livingston Road SE, South Capitol Street SE, Southern Avenue SE, Valley Avenue SE, and 13th Street SE.
The District of Columbia has a mayor–council government that operates under Article One of the United States Constitution and the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The Home Rule Act devolves certain powers of the United States Congress to the local government, which consists of a mayor and a 13-member council. However, Congress retains the right to review and overturn laws created by the council and intervene in local affairs.
The Mount Pleasant Library at 1600 Lamont Street, NW in Washington, DC is a branch of the District of Columbia Public Library System that opened in May 1925, and is the third oldest public library building still in use in Washington.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the District of Columbia:
Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library is part of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) System. It was opened to the public on July 29, 1990. The library was named in honor of Juanita E. Thornton, a teacher and community activist.
Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library is part of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) System. It was originally opened to the public in 1961. A new building on the same site, designed by award-winning architect David Adjaye, opened on June 19, 2012.
Bellevue/William O. Lockridge Neighborhood Library is part of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) System. It was originally opened to the public in 1959. It was renovated with a design by British architect David Adjaye and named after activist William O'Neal Lockridge.
The Takoma Park Neighborhood Library is part of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) System. It was opened to the public in 1911.
The Lamond-Riggs/Lillian J. Huff Neighborhood Library is a branch of the District of Columbia Public Library in the Queens Chapel neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is located at 5401 South Dakota Avenue NE. Residents had requested a library for the area as early as 1957; the current building opened in 1983 at a cost of $2 million.
The Southeast Neighborhood Library is a branch of the District of Columbia Public Library in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is located at 403 7th Street SE. Designed by architect Edward Lippincott Tilton in the neoclassical style, it opened in 1922 and is one of three Carnegie libraries in Washington. As of 2019, the city planned a $23.5 million renovation of the library starting in 2021. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
"District of Columbia Public Library system" agency under committee
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