Nashville Public Library is the

public library 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 fundamen ...

serving

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

and the metropolitan area of Davidson County. In 2010, the Nashville Public Library was the recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The library was named the

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional pract ...

2017 Library of the Year.

History

A succession of public libraries, known by a variety of names, served the people of Nashville. The early libraries were generally small, offered a narrow range of services, and operated on a fee schedule. In 1897, the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title ...

authorized cities of a certain size to establish and maintain free public libraries and reading rooms. With this authority, in 1901 the Howard Library became Nashville’s first free circulating library. Also in 1901,

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

offered to donate $100,000 for a new library building if the city would take care of its maintenance. The city accepted those terms, and in 1904, the Carnegie Library Building was completed on Polk Avenue. Andrew Carnegie enabled the building and opening of an additional three branches between 1912 and 1919. Two of those buildings are still in use today, the North Branch and the East Branch. The Carnegie Library Building was razed and replaced with the Ben West Public Library in 1963. The Main Library was housed in the Ben West building for 38 years. The new Main Library Building, designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, was opened in 2001. Previously on the site for the Main Library was a downtown shopping mall called

Church Street Center Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

Branches

There are 20 library branches in the Nashville Public Library system. They are: * Bellevue Branch Library * Bordeaux Branch Library * Donelson Branch Library * East Branch Library * Edgehill Branch Library * Edmondson Pike Branch Library * Goodlettsville Branch Library * Green Hills Branch Library * Hadley Park Branch Library * Hermitage Branch Library * Inglewood Branch Library * Looby Branch Library * Madison Branch Library * North Branch Library * Old Hickory Branch Library * Pruitt Branch Library * Richland Park Branch Library * Southeast Branch Library * Thompson Lane Branch Library * Watkins Park Branch Library

Programs and services

The Nashville Public Library features a variety of public programming. The library offers puppet shows in the Main Library as well as throughout the Nashville community. The library offers digital collections, e-book and audiobook downloads, language learning services, and computer classes. There are a variety of book clubs hosted throughout the library system. In 2010, the Nashville Public Library began partnering with

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Metro Nashville Public Schools, or MNPS, is a school district that serves the city of Nashville, Tennessee and Davidson County. As of the 2020–21 school year more than 80,000 students were enrolled in the district's 162 schools. Demographics ...

to offer the students access to the public library materials. Called "Limitless Libraries," this program offers access to approximately 1.5 million information resources. The Main Library's Special Collections Division contains several archival and oral history collections highlighting Nashville history. Among them, the Civil Rights Room, documenting the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

in Nashville, and an oral history collection documenting the 2010 Tennessee floods in Nashville.

Portraits

The library includes many portraits of Tennesseans, including former mayor and Confederate veteran

Randal William McGavock Randal William McGavock (1826–1863) was an American lawyer, Democratic politician, Southern planter, and colonel in the Confederate States Army. He then went on a twenty-month tour of Europe, Asia and Africa. He wrote articles about his exper ...

Friends of the Library and Library Foundation

Friends of the Nashville Public Library is a non-profit that offers memberships and supports the library through book sales. The Friends of the Nashville Public Library offer support for the summer reading program as well other programs and collection development. The Nashville Public Library Foundation is a non-profit founded in 1997 to raise funds for the Nashville Public Library. Depending on private donors, the Nashville Public Library Foundation offers funds for various programs, services, and building improvements in the library system. These include funding of the Bringing Books to Life pre-school literacy program, the Special Collections' Civil Rights Room, and $5 million in collection development funds. On December 2, 2015, The Nashville Public Library unveiled the new Kidman-Urban Puppet Stage in the children's section of the library, made possible by a donation from

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

and

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...

, long time supporters of the library.

References

External links

Library website