Minneapolis Public Library

Minneapolis Public Library

The Minneapolis Public Library and Information Center (MPL) was a library system serving the residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. It was originally founded in 1860 as a publicly traded, private library called the Minneapolis Athenæum. In 1885 lumber baron and philanthropist T. B. Walker established a free public library called the Minneapolis Public Library. In 2008, after some financial difficulties, the library was merged into the Hennepin County Library system. At the time of its merger, the library included Central Library in downtown Minneapolis and fourteen branch libraries. Its collection numbered about 3.1 million items with about 2.2 million of these housed in the central library.