Rock Island Public Library - Main Library

Main Library

The Main Library building opened on December 15, 1903 in downtown Rock Island. When the library first opened it was called the Rock Island’s Temple of Literature, but the name has been changed to the Main Library since the introduction of the branches. The current layout of the library has changed from its original opening in 1903. The basement houses the large Children's Department, including children's study area and children's computer lab. The basement has its own Circulation Department, bathrooms and an art exhibit titled Story Mountain, which was completed in 1985. The main floor or first floor houses the reference and circulations Departments, computer lab, and a small local history collection of Rock Island history. The main floor houses the fiction-mystery, romance, western, new, DVD & VHS, newspaper & magazine, and reference collections. The second floor houses the business office of the Rock Island Public Library, local art exhibit room, and the non-fiction collection. The basement, first, and second floors each have study areas and wireless internet. During the winter and fall months the library is open seven days a week and during the spring and summer the library is open six days a week, closing on Sunday. An addition was added to the Main library in 1986 and it was extensively remodeled in 2006. The Main library's phone number is 309-732-READ, which was designed so patrons would be unable to forget the number. The Rock Island Public Library is a member of PALS (Prairie Area Library System) a consortium 186 lending libraries.