Overview

Scope and Content

After receiving a $50,000 grant from steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the Dallas City Council, under Mayor Ben Cabell, approved the ordinance that, on May 4, 1900, established the Dallas Public Library.  The ordinance provided for land and facilities annual budget and a board of trustees.  The building opened in 1901 and housed 9,852 volumes.  Four new branches opened in the 1930s.  In 1954, the Carnegie library building was torn down, and a six-story facility that held 433,000 books was built in its place the following year.  During the 1960s and 1970s, the city built 17 new branches.  

The current central library building opened in 1982 and was built with emerging technology in mind.  It was one of the first libraries in the country to have an online catalog system and to offer state-of-the-art audio-visual capabilities.  In 1986, the building was named the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library to honor the former mayor who played a major role in its development.   Jonsson, who served as mayor from 1964 to 1971, headed a fund-raising drive to raise $13 million for the new central library.  Eleven of Dallas' then-18 branch libraries were built during the years Jonsson was mayor.  Prior to 1986, the building was referred to as the central library or the downtown library.

As of 2017, the Dallas Public Library System circulated over 8,000,000 items a year and had 28 branches. Almost 600,000 patrons used the Central Library annually, and the total library system reached over 3.3 million patrons.

Organization

This organization is arranged by subject.

Access

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from the Dallas Municipal Archives. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.   The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Citation

Dallas Public Library Association, 1900-1901, 1912, 1952 (Box <x>, Folder <y>), Dallas Municipal Archives

Related Materials

Collection 1991-029--Establishment of the Dallas Public Library System, 1900

Index Terms

Dallas -- Texas -- History
Libraries --Texas -- Dallas
Public libraries -- Texas -- Dallas -- History -- 20th century

Container List