Minneapolis Public Library - Central Library

Central Library

Further information: Minneapolis Central Library

Minneapolis's original library was called the Minneapolis Athenæum. It was organized by Minneapolis businessmen in 1859 as a private subscription library, and its shares were traded on the local stock market. After T. B. Walker moved to Minneapolis he bought shares in the Athenaeum and gave away memberships to it, promoting the idea of a free public library for the city. Other stock holders raised objections, but the technique worked and soon the city financed a free library for the public with a one mill property tax. When the Minneapolis Public Library was established in 1885 the Athenæum became a partner of it and still exists as a separate nonprofit organisation sharing space with the library.

Three central libraries have been built in Minneapolis, each replacing the last with a bigger and more up-to-date building. The first opened in 1889, the second in 1961 and the third and current building in 2006.

On November 7, 2000 Minneapolis voters approved a $140 million package to improve library services, including funding a new Central Library building. The building was designed by Cesar Pelli, along with the Minneapolis firm Architectural Alliance, It opened to the public on May 20, 2006. At a cost of $250 per square foot, the library features a host of energy-efficient measures, including a roof garden and substantial daylight. While the building was under construction, most services were provided at the interim Central Library Marquette location, located on two floors in Marquette Plaza (formerly the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis). Cost of providing an interim site while the old library was demolished and rebuilt exceeded $10 million.

Until the 2002 closure and demolition of the old central library, the Minneapolis Planetarium Society found its home there, possessing a projector machine literally older than the space age itself (delivered and installed originally in 1954, three years before the launch of Sputnik I). In 2005, the Minnesota Legislature apportioned funding for the inclusion of a planetarium in the new Central Library building. As of May 2007, a 37,000-square-foot (3,400 m2) Minnesota Planetarium Society is planned for the roof of the new building.