The Boulder Public Library is the

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The main branch and the Carnegie Branch Library for Local History are located in downtown Boulder. The George Reynolds Branch is in south Boulder, Meadows Branch is in east Boulder, and the North Boulder Branch, also called NoBo, is in north Boulder.

History

The Boulder Public Library was originally housed in the Carnegie library on Pine Street, built in 1906, before moving to its present location on Canyon Boulevard in 1961. The original 1906 library was initially built with $15,000 donated by

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

. When the library moved to its present location, the architect selection committee selected James M. Hunter and Associates to execute the new design and construction of the new building. It was to be a two-story building of 23,800 square feet, with sculpture galleries, reading rooms, gathering spaces, video viewing rooms, and music listening rooms. On November 4, 1959, the City Council voted to provide bonds of $450,000 to fund design and construction. The final cost of the building was $486,437.19. The library was dedicated on November 12, 1961. In late 2013, the main library temporarily housed the Boulder City Council while renovations are made to the main council building. Major renovations to the library began in 2014. The renovations covered expansion and repairs to the main branch, and addressed aging

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and data wiring among other repairs. The renovations were funded by $2.45 million in

municipal bond A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often ...

s, approved as part of a larger bond initiative by Boulder voters in a 2011

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

. In March 2019, the Boulder Public Library eliminated overdue fines. In November 2022, the Boulder Public Library District was formed. The district was formed as a result of a referendum, leading to the decoupling of the library from the municipality of

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

. The new library district will be funded by a property tax mill levy.

Collection and circulation

, the library's collection was composed of 333,432 items including 94,352

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...

s. The circulation was 1,446,816.

Branches

The Boulder Public Library system comprises five branches. The main branch is in downtown Boulder near Boulder Creek with an area of . An enclosed

walkway In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. '' The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. ...

spans the creek between the two library sections. The Carnegie Branch Library for Local History is also located in downtown Boulder with an area of . This branch focuses on the history of Boulder and the surrounding area. The George Reynolds branch — named after CU professor of English George F. Reynold — is in south Boulder with an area of . The Meadows branch is in east Boulder, and has an area of . On June 29, 2024, the NoBo branch opened its doors in north Boulder with an area of .

References

External links

* {{Authority control Public libraries in Colorado Buildings and structures in Boulder, Colorado Library buildings completed in 1961 Education in Boulder, Colorado