Indianapolis Public Library

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.

Indianapolis Public Library
Central Library from the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza
Location	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Established	1873; 151 years ago (1873)
Branches	24
Access and use
Circulation	7,077,479
Population served	952,389
Other information
Budget	$60,087,318
Director	Gregory A. Hill
Employees	600+
Website	indypl.org

 

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.

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. 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. 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).

 

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. Between 1910 and 1914, another five library branches were built with $120,000 donated by Andrew Carnegie. 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.

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.

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.

 

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. 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. The Glendale Branch opened in 2000 as the first full-service library at a major shopping center in the U.S. Laura Johnston served in an interim role from 2003 to 2004 until the appointment of Linda Mielke, who served from 2004 until 2007. She was succeeded by Laura Bramble. 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. After considering closing six branches, officials decided to reduce branch hours by 26 percent, layoff 37 employees, and increase fines.

Jackie Nytes served as the chief executive officer from 2012 until 2021, when she stepped down from her position. 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. 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. In 2021, the Indianapolis Public Library terminated its late fee policy, waiving fines for more than 87,000 accounts for overdue items.

Jackie Nytes resigned from the position of CEO following protests and allegations of racism. John Helling was named interim chief executive officer at the August 23, 2021. Helling served until March 2022, when Nichelle Hayes was appointed as interim CEO. Although Hayes was a finalist for the position of CEO, a divided board appointed Gregory Hill to the position on April 24, 2023.

Website and digital holdings

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). 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. 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.

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.

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.

Shared System

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.

The Central Library building was designed by Philadelphia-based architect Paul Philippe Cret (with Zantzinger, Borie and Medary). 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.

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. 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. 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. The renovated Central Library and its new atrium addition opened on December 9, 2007, two years behind schedule and over budget.

Indianapolis Special Collections Room

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.

Other special collections

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. 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.

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.

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). Fountain Square Branch was closed in 2020. West Perry Branch opened in July 2021, followed by the Fort Ben Branch, which opened in Lawrence, Indiana, in August 2023. A new standalone building is under construction for the Glendale Branch in Washington Township.

Name	Est.	Built	Location	Notes	Image
Beech Grove	1951	1953	39°43′19″N 86°05′41″W / 39.7219°N 86.0946°W / 39.7219; -86.0946 (Beech Grove Branch)	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″N 86°08′44″W / 39.8320°N 86.1455°W / 39.8320; -86.1455 (College Avenue Branch)	Until its relocation in 2000, the library was named the Broadway Branch.
Decatur	1967	1990	39°41′12″N 86°16′43″W / 39.6868°N 86.2786°W / 39.6868; -86.2786 (Decatur Branch)	Until its relocation in 1990, the library was named the Marwood Branch.
Eagle	1960	2019	39°49′34″N 86°15′19″W / 39.8262°N 86.2554°W / 39.8262; -86.2554 (Eagle Branch)
East 38th Street	1957	2003	39°49′33″N 86°04′34″W / 39.8257°N 86.0762°W / 39.8257; -86.0762 (East 38th Street Branch)	Until its relocation in 2003, the library was named the Emerson Branch.
East Washington	1911	1911	39°46′07″N 86°06′57″W / 39.7686°N 86.1158°W / 39.7686; -86.1158 (East Washington Branch)	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″N 86°00′12″W / 39.8558°N 86.0034°W / 39.8558; -86.0034 (Fort Ben Branch)	The branch is located in the city of Lawrence.
Franklin Road	1969	2000	39°41′15″N 86°01′09″W / 39.6875°N 86.0192°W / 39.6875; -86.0192 (Franklin Road Branch)	Until its relocation in 2000, the library was named the Wanamaker Branch.
Garfield Park	1918	1965	39°43′55″N 86°08′24″W / 39.7319°N 86.1400°W / 39.7319; -86.1400 (Garfield Park Branch)	Until 2011, the library was named the Shelby Branch.
Glendale	1949	2000	39°51′56″N 86°07′12″W / 39.8656°N 86.1199°W / 39.8656; -86.1199 (Glendale Branch)	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. A new standalone library branch is under construction and expected to open in the first quarter of 2024.
Haughville	1896	2003	39°46′28″N 86°11′51″W / 39.7744°N 86.1974°W / 39.7744; -86.1974 (Haughville Branch)
InfoZone	2000	2000	39°48′40″N 86°09′29″W / 39.8110°N 86.1580°W / 39.8110; -86.1580 (InfoZone)	The branch is located on the second floor of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
Irvington	1903	2001	39°46′13″N 86°04′15″W / 39.7703°N 86.0709°W / 39.7703; -86.0709 (Irvington Branch)	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″N 86°02′02″W / 39.8979°N 86.0338°W / 39.8979; -86.0338 (Lawrence Branch)
Martindale–Brightwood	1901	2020	39°48′11″N 86°06′10″W / 39.8031°N 86.1027°W / 39.8031; -86.1027 (Martindale–Brightwood Branch)	Until its relocation in 2020, the library was named the Brightwood Branch.
Michigan Road	2018	2018	39°52′07″N 86°12′05″W / 39.8687°N 86.2013°W / 39.8687; -86.2013 (Michigan Road Branch)
Nora	1971	1971	39°54′47″N 86°08′29″W / 39.9130°N 86.1415°W / 39.9130; -86.1415 (Nora Branch)
Pike	1967	1986	39°52′29″N 86°15′32″W / 39.8748°N 86.2588°W / 39.8748; -86.2588 (Pike Branch)	Until its relocation in 1986, the library was named the Westlane Branch.
Southport	1967	1974	39°39′03″N 86°07′03″W / 39.6509°N 86.1175°W / 39.6509; -86.1175 (Southport Branch)
Spades Park	1912	1912	39°47′06″N 86°07′44″W / 39.7849°N 86.1289°W / 39.7849; -86.1289 (Spades Park Branch)	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″N 85°59′44″W / 39.7961°N 85.9955°W / 39.7961; -85.9955 (Warren Branch)
Wayne	1969	1983	39°45′40″N 86°17′23″W / 39.7612°N 86.2898°W / 39.7612; -86.2898 (Wayne Branch)
West Indianapolis	1897	1986	39°45′03″N 86°11′41″W / 39.7507°N 86.1946°W / 39.7507; -86.1946 (West Indianapolis Branch)
West Perry	2021	2021	39°39′57″N 86°11′15″W / 39.6659°N 86.1876°W / 39.6659; -86.1876 (West Perry Branch)

1.^ This is based on the 2019 population estimate of Marion County, Indiana, subtracting the populations of the Town of Speedway, Indiana. Residents of Speedway are ineligible to be cardholders of the Indianapolis Public Library as the town maintains its own public library.