Austin Public Library

Austin Public Library is a public library system serving Austin, Texas, United States. It is operated by the City of Austin and consists of the Central Library on Cesar Chavez Street (which replaced the old Faulk Central Library in 2017), the Austin History Center, 20 branches and the Recycled Reads bookstore and upcycling facility. History On November 13, 1925, Grace Delano Clark persuaded the Austin Branch of American Association of University Women (AAUW) to initiate a project to establish the Austin Public Library. AAUW organized a house-to-house campaign to solicit book donations and money for a dedicated building. In February 1926, the Austin Public Library opened at 819 Congress Avenue in a rented room above the office of newspaper Pressler & Ziller. The library held 500 donated volumes, and Grace Delano Clark served as Volunteer Librarian. In December of the same year, Austin's first library building, an wood-frame structure, opened at West 9th and Guadalupe Streets. In 1928, Austin voters approved $150,000 in bonds for a permanent building, and the temporary building was moved to Angelina Street, resurfaced with brick, and opened as the library's first branch, the George Washington Carver Branch. The building is now part of the George Washington Carver Museum, adjacent to the current Carver Branch.