Jacksonville Public Library

The Jacksonville Public Library is the public library system of Jacksonville and Duval County and one of the largest library systems in Florida. It is also used by residents of neighboring Baker, Nassau, Clay and St. Johns counties. The system is a division of the City of Jacksonville and is governed by an independent Board of Library Trustees appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council.

History
The library traces its roots to 1878, when the Jacksonville Library and Literary Association opened the city's first free public reading room. After the Great Fire of 1901 destroyed the association's building, Andrew Carnegie offered $50,000 for a new library, and in 1903 the city established a free public library by ordinance. The Carnegie-funded Jacksonville Free Public Library opened on June 1, 1905, with 8,685 books — the first tax-supported library in Florida. The first branch opened in 1927, and in 1928 Jacksonville became the first library in Florida to offer bookmobile service.

Main Library
The current Main Library at 303 N. Laura Street opened on November 12, 2005, near City Hall and Hemming Plaza, replacing the Haydon Burns Library. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects and built by Jacksonville's Auchter Company, the 300,000-square-foot building is almost three times the size of its predecessor and was designed to hold up to one million books. In 2012, the AIA Florida chapter included it in its list "Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places." The building houses specialized reading rooms, special collections, art galleries and a conference center level, where The Lounge @ 303 North event space opened in 2013.

Branches
The system includes the Main Library, regional and neighborhood branches across Jacksonville, and the Oceanway Express Lockers, a pickup and drop-off location opened in 2012 near the Oceanway Community Center.

• Charles Webb Wesconnett Regional — 103rd Street (Westside)
• Highlands Regional — Dunn Avenue (Northside)
• Pablo Creek Regional — Beach Blvd., between Hodges and Kernan (Southside)
• Southeast — Deerwood Park Blvd. (Southside)
• Argyle — Old Middleburg Road S. (Westside)
• Beaches — 3rd Street, Neptune Beach
• Bill Brinton Murray Hill — Edgewood Avenue S. (Urban Core)
• Bradham and Brooks — Edgewood Avenue W. (Northside)
• Brentwood — Pearl Street (Urban Core)
• Brown Eastside — Harrison Street (Urban Core)
• Dallas Graham — Myrtle Avenue N. (Urban Core)
• Mandarin — Kori Road (Mandarin)
• Maxville — Maxville Blvd. (Maxville)
• Regency Square — Regency Square Blvd. (Arlington)
• San Marco — LaSalle Street (San Marco)
• South Mandarin — San Jose Blvd. (Mandarin)
• University Park — University Blvd. N. (Arlington)
• West — Chaffee Road S. (Westside)
• Westbrook — Commonwealth Avenue (Urban Core)
• Willow Branch — Park Street (Riverside / Avondale)