The Rapid City Public Library is the system of
public libraries
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
There are five fundamenta ...
in
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
, United States. It is located at 610 Quincy Street. The library offers services at no charge for residents of
Pennington County.
History
Library services were first offered in Rapid City beginning in 1879, when a volunteer reading room was organized by community women with $45, donated books and periodicals, and a free subscription to the ''Minneapolis Journal''. In an 1881 charter by the
territorial government, the Rapid City Library Association built Library Hall on the corner of 6th and Kansas City Streets on donated land. In 1915, the city began building a
Carnegie library building located on the corner of Kansas City and 6th streets in downtown Rapid City, and in 1917 the library collection moved there. The collection eventually outgrew the space, and in 1972 a new building was opened at 610 Quincy Street.
In 2002, the library added an expansion to house the juvenile and young adult collections, as well as to provide a service lobby, drive-through window and covered parking space.
In 2008, the Rapid City Public Library opened its first satellite location at 10 Van Buren Street as part of the new General Beadle School Community Center, housing a public elementary school and community hall. In 2020, this location closed as part of a mutual agreement between
Rapid City Area Schools
Rapid City Area Schools, formally Rapid City Area School District 51-4, is a public school district serving Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in ...
and Rapid City Public Library.
Main location
The Rapid City main library is a , two-story tall building in Rapid City's downtown area. The library has a collection of over 147,000 materials as well as thousands of digital resources, subscriptions to over 40 newspapers and magazines, and 53 public-use computers. Both locations offer free
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
access.
In 2008, the main library was named by
Nancy Pearl
Nancy Pearl (born January 12, 1945) is an American librarian, best-selling author, literary critic and the former Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book at Seattle Central Library, Seattle Public Library.Rebekah DennNancy Pearl ...
in ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' as one of "10 Great Places to Find a Nook and Read a Book".
The Historical Collections Room contains resources and archives related to Rapid City and the
Black Hills
The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...
area. Included in this collection are oral histories, television broadcasts and photographs of the
1972 Black Hills Flood, rare books focusing on Black Hills history, scrapbooks related to Rapid City mayors and city issues, and miscellaneous collections on a wide spectrum of local history subjects.
Local history resources also include online digital collections, such as the Black Hills Knowledge Network of local information; the Rapid City Oral History Project; and thousands of images and documents related to Rapid City and the Black Hills.
References
External links
RCPL Main PageRapid City Public Library's Carnegie Building, hosted on the RCPL Flickr site
{{Authority control
Education in Rapid City, South Dakota
Public libraries in South Dakota
Buildings and structures in Rapid City, South Dakota