Dallas Public Library

Several special collections are housed at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library including the Siddie Jo Johnson Children's Literature Collection (2nd floor), the Patent and Trademark Resource Center (6th floor), the Fine Books collection (7th floor), and the Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck Genealogy Collection (8th floor).{{Cite web |title=Special Collections - Dallas Public Library |url=https://dallaslibrary2.org/central/specialCollections.php |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=dallaslibrary2.org}} Dallas Public Library holds one of the largest and comprehensive collections for family history research in the Southwest. Many of the library branches hold special book collections like Spanish language, LGBT Resources, and African-American history.

The Dallas Public Library is home to a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, the only copy in a US public library outside of New England. It was purchased by the Dallas Shakespeare Club in 1984 at a cost of $275,000 and was gifted to the Library in 1986.Anthony James West, "The Shakespeare First Folio: The History of the Book; Volume II: A New World Census of First Folios", Oxford University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|9780198187684}} It is displayed on the 7th floor.{{Cite web |title=Dallas Public Library - Site Map |url=https://dallaslibrary2.org/fineBooks/shakespeare.htm}}

A Dunlap Broadside copy of the Declaration of Independence is also housed on the 7th floor. Printed by John Dunlap of Philadelphia, it is one of only twenty-six known to survive. This is the only copy west of the Mississippi, and one of only 3 displayed by a public library. It was purchased by a number of individuals for $500,000 and given to the city.{{cite web |title=First-edition copy of the Declaration of Independence is one of Dallas' undiscovered treasures {{!}} Dallas-Fort Worth Communities - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/dallas/headlines/20110702-first-edition-copy-of-the-declaration-of-independence-is-one-of-dallas-undiscovered-treasures.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704115127/http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/dallas/headlines/20110702-first-edition-copy-of-the-declaration-of-independence-is-one-of-dallas-undiscovered-treasures.ece |archive-date=2011-07-04}}{{Cite web |title=Dallas Public Library - Site Map |url=https://dallaslibrary2.org/fineBooks/doi.htm}}

The J. Erik Jonsson Central Library also has three makerspaces, called Creative Spaces, that serve a different creative endeavor: storytelling, fiber arts, and preservation. The Story Center on the 3rd floor is a studio with equipment for storytelling in all its forms: recording a podcast, making movies, or digital creation.{{Cite web |title=Creative Spaces - Story Center |url=https://dallaslibrary2.org/creativespaces/storycenter.htm |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=dallaslibrary2.org}} The Fiber Arts Workroom on the 4th floor offers equipment to help people of all skill levels bring their ideas into finished projects.{{Cite web |title=Creative Spaces - Fiber Arts Workroom |url=https://dallaslibrary2.org/creativespaces/fiberarts.htm |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=dallaslibrary2.org}} The Heritage Lab on the 8th floor contains digitization tools to make copies of irreplaceable photos, home movies, documents, slides and audio cassettes.{{Cite web |title=Creative Spaces - Heritage Lab |url=https://dallaslibrary2.org/creativespaces/heritagelab.htm |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=dallaslibrary2.org}} In 2024, D Magazine named Dallas Public Library best arts incubator in the city.{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=By D. |title=The Best of Big D 2024 |url=https://www.dmagazine.com/guides/best-of-big-d-2024/detail/dallas-public-library/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=D Magazine |language=en-US}}

GED and Citizenship classes are available throughout the year in English and Spanish through the Adult Learning program. In person and online English classes are also available.{{Cite web |title=Adult Learning – Adult Learning resources from the Dallas Public LIbrary |url=https://dallaslibrary2.org/adultlearning/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |language=en-US}}

Job application, search, and resume help is available through the library's Career Launch Pad service. The service is available at all Dallas Public Library locations except for Bookmarks.{{Cite web |title=Dallas Public Library - Employment Resources |url=https://dallaslibrary2.org/services/jobs.php |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=dallaslibrary2.org}}

Notary services are offered at no charge at several locations.[https://dallascityhall.com/departments/budget/financialtransparency/AnnualBudget/Community%20Profile%203.24.23%20-%20web.pdf City of Dallas employees]

File:DallasPublicLibrary Cornerstone.jpg

In 1899, the idea to create a free public library in Dallas was conceived by the Dallas Federation of Women's Clubs, led by president Mrs. Henry (May Dickson) Exall. She helped raise US$11,000 from gifts from public school teachers, local businessmen, and Alfred Horatio Belo of The Dallas Morning News.

The library became a reality when Mrs. Exall requested and received a US$50,000 grant from philanthropist and steel giant Andrew Carnegie to construct the first library building in Dallas. On October 22, 1901,Elizabeth York Enstam, Women and the Creation of Urban Life: Dallas, Texas, 1843-1920 (Texas A&M University Press, 1998) p102 the Carnegie library opened at the corner of Harwood and Commerce streets with a head librarian, three assistants, and 9,852 volumes. The first story held the entire collection; the second floor held the Carnegie Hall auditorium and an Art Room. The art room was the first public art gallery in Dallas and eventually became what is known today as the Dallas Museum of Art.

An Oak Cliff branch opened in 1914 to serve the citizens of the area, annexed into Dallas in 1903. Four more branches opened in the 1930s including the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Library, which was the first to serve the African American population of Dallas. This began under the director of Cleora Clanton.{{cite book |author1=Michael V. Hazel |title=The Dallas Public Library: Celebrating a Century of Service, 1901-2001 |date=2001 |publisher=University of North Texas Press |isbn=9781574411416 |pages=67–99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gCsct69FykC&q=Cleora+Clanton&pg=PP16 |access-date=October 30, 2019}}

File:DallasPublicLibrary02.jpg building opened in 1954 and included controversial artwork]]

In World War II, the library was fully established as a War Information Center. By 1950, the library resources and facilities were stretched to the limit, so supporters formed an auxiliary organization called the Friends of the Dallas Public Library to lobby for better library services.

By the 1950s, the Carnegie Library was badly deteriorating and overcrowded, and a new modern library was built on the same site. During construction, the Library was housed temporarily on the mezzanine of Union Station. The new building, now known as Old Dallas Central Library, had room for over 400,000 volumes and opened in 1954.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Dallas Public Library added 17 branches to the system. In 1962, Lillian M. Bradshaw was named Library Director, the first woman to head a department in the City of Dallas, marking a milestone in the civil rights and women's liberation movements of that era.{{cite news|last1=Simnacher|first1=Joe|title=Lillian Moore Bradshaw: Library director cleared path for women in city government|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/obituary-headlines/20100212-Lillian-Moore-Bradshaw-Library-director-659.ece|access-date=7 March 2016|work=Dallas Morning News|date=February 12, 2010}}

File:Biblioteca_Dallas_Interior.jpg in the Government District of Downtown Dallas]]

Days after she was put into office, she faced a censorship push from a Dallas council-member, but the community and media rallied to her defense. The City Council, in response, overwhelmingly approved her appointment and passed a resolution not to censor books purchased by the library.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/obituaries/obituaries/2010/02/12/Lillian-Moore-Bradshaw-Library-director-659|title=Lillian Moore Bradshaw: Library director cleared path for women in city government|date=2010-02-12|website=Dallas News|language=en|access-date=2019-02-25}} By the 1970s, the Central Library had again become overloaded and was unequipped to handle emerging technology. (This was partly a result of the federal Library Services and Construction Act, which had enabled the addition of an unexpected number of volumes to the collection in a relatively short period of time.) In 1972, the City selected a {{convert|114000|sqft|m2|-2}} site at Young and Ervay across from the Dallas City Hall for a new central library facility.

In 1982, the technologically sophisticated structure opened its doors.{{cite web |url=https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2022/04/tales-from-the-dallas-history-archives-the-j-erik-jonsson-central-library-turns-40/ |title=Tales from the Dallas History Archives: The J. Erik Jonsson Central Library Turns 40 |last=Murray |first=Brandon |date=April 18, 2022 |website=D Magazine |access-date=November 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418181923/https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2022/04/tales-from-the-dallas-history-archives-the-j-erik-jonsson-central-library-turns-40/ |archive-date=April 18, 2022}} It was one of the first libraries in the nation to include an Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) and state-of-the-art audiovisual capabilities. It was renamed the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in 1986 in honor of the former mayor who played a large role in the library system's development.

By the 2000s, the system had 27 branch locations with over 2.5 million volumes, including books, magazines, videos, and cassettes. The system currently attracts 2.8 million visitors per year and has 540,000 cardholders who check out more than 3.8 million books and other materials per year. The Library also operates a "Library on Wheels" Mobile Learning Center to service Dallas communities.{{cite web |url=http://dallaslibrary2.org/about/history.php |title=History |website=Dallas Public Library |access-date=February 6, 2022}}

File:Forest Green Branch Library.jpg

File:Skillman southwestern library dallas texas 2009-08-22.jpg

The Dallas Public Library system consists of 28 branches throughout the city, the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, in the Government District of downtown Dallas, and the Bookmarks Children's Library located in NorthPark Center.

• Arcadia Park Branch Library in West Dallas (2005)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/arcadia.htm Arcadia Park Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.[https://dallastxgov.sharepoint.com/sites/DPLStaffResources/Shared%20Documents/Forms/Manager%20Meeting%20Notes.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FDPLStaffResources%2FShared%20Documents%2FAbout%20DPL%2FDPL%20Building%20Birthdays%2Epdf&parent=%2Fsites%2FDPLStaffResources%2FShared%20Documents%2FAbout%20DPL Dallas Public Library Birthdays]
• Audelia Road Branch Library in Lake Highlands (1971)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/audelia.htm Audelia Road Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Bachman Lake Branch Library (1961)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary2.org/branch/bachman.php Bachman Lake Branch Library]. Retrieved on 21 January 2012.
• Bookmarks in NorthPark Center (2008)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [https://dallaslibrary2.org/branch/bookmarks.php Dallas West Branch Library]. Retrieved on 3 March 2024.
• Dallas West Branch Library in West Dallas (1975)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/dallaswest.htm Dallas West Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Fretz Park Branch Library in North Dallas (1976)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/fretz.htm Fretz Park Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Forest Green Branch Library in Lake Highlands (1976)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/forest.htm Forest Green Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Grauwyler Park Branch Library in Dallas (2007)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/grauwyler.htm Grauwyler Park Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 April 2007.
• Hampton-Illinois Branch Library in Oak Cliff (1964)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/hampton.htm Hampton-Illinois Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Highland Hills Branch Library in the Highland Hills neighborhood of South Dallas (1980)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/highland.htm Highland Hills Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in Downtown Dallas (1982)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [https://dallaslibrary2.org/central/index.php Central Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Kleberg-Rylie Branch Library in Kleberg in far Southeast Dallas (1995)
• Lakewood Branch Library in Junius Heights, near Lakewood (1938)
• Lochwood Branch Library (formerly Casa View Branch) in Lochwood neighborhood of East Dallas, White Rock area (1964)
• Martin Luther King Jr. Library and Learning Center near Fair Park (1974)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/martin.htm Martin Luther King Jr. Library and Learning Center]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Mountain Creek Branch Library in Mountain Creek, Dallas, Texas (1994)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/mountain.htm Mountain Creek Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• North Oak Cliff Branch Library in Oak Cliff (1987)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/north.htm North Oak Cliff Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Oak Lawn Branch Library in Oak Lawn (1929)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/oaklawn.htm Oak Lawn Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Park Forest Branch Library in North Dallas (1971)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/park.htm Park Forest Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Paul Laurence Dunbar Lancaster-Kiest Branch Library in South Dallas (1964)
• Pleasant Grove Branch Library in Pleasant Grove (1961)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/pleasant.htm Pleasant Grove Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Polk-Wisdom Branch Library in Southwest Dallas (1970)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/polk.htm Polk-Wisdom Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Prairie Creek Branch Library (2010)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary2.org/branch/prairie.php Prairie Creek Branch Library]. Retrieved on 21 January 2013.
• Preston Royal Branch Library in North Dallas (1964)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/preston.htm Preston Royal Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Preston Royal first opened in 1964. Its roof has arches above, and according to Andrew Scoggin of The Dallas Morning News this makes the library appear distinct compared to others in the library system. {{As of|2013}} there is no funding for a new library building intended to replace the current library.Scoggin, Andrew. "[http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/park-cities/headlines/20140328-preston-royal-library-branch-marks-50-years-with-celebration.ece Preston Royal library branch marks 50 years with celebration]." The Dallas Morning News. March 28, 2014. Retrieved on June 18, 2016.
• Renner Frankford Branch Library in Renner in Far North Dallas (1987)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/renner.htm Renner Frankford Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Skillman Southwestern Branch Library in East Dallas (1996)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/skillman.htm Skillman Southwestern Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• This branch, at 5707 Skillman Street at Southwestern Boulevard, is south of and serves Vickery Midtown. The library opened in July 1996 and received dedication on August 18, 1996."[http://dallaslibrary.org/skillman.htm Skillman Southwestern Branch Library]." Dallas Public Library. Accessed October 10, 2008."[http://vickerymeadow.org/docs/Resource_Book.pdf Resource Book] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728154656/http://vickerymeadow.org/docs/Resource_Book.pdf |date=2011-07-28 }}." Vickery Meadow Improvement District. Accessed October 10, 2008.Coleman, Rufus. "[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D6C49049C5D4&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Library fills need of area, Long-awaited opening fills needs of northeast Dallas neighborhood]." The Dallas Morning News. August 15, 1996. Retrieved on May 27, 2009. A 1978 bond authorized by Dallas voters lead to the construction of the Skillman Southwestern library. Ramiro Salazar, then the director of the Dallas library system said in 1996 that the opening of Skillman Southwestern satisfied "the needs of a community that didn't have an accessible library for a long time."
• Skyline Branch Library in East Dallas (1977)[http://www.dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/skyline.htm Skyline Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Timberglen Branch Library in Far North Dallas (2007)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary.org/timberglen.htm Timberglen Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 April 2007.
• Vickery Park Branch Library in Northeast Dallas (2021)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [https://dallaslibrary2.org/branch/vickerypark.php Vickery Park Branch Library]. Retrieved on 11 April 2007.[https://lakehighlands.advocatemag.com/2021/02/02/new-vickery-park-branch-library-begins-curbside-service-today/ Dallas Public Library Birthdays]
• White Rock Hills Branch Library in Far East Dallas (2012)[http://dallaslibrary.org DallasLibrary.org] – [http://dallaslibrary2.org/branch/whiterock.php White Rock Hills Branch Library]. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
• This branch, at 9150 Ferguson Rd, received a 2012 APA/GCPD Accessibility Award from the State of Texas.{{cite web |url=http://governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/awards/apa_gcpd_accessibility_awards |title=APA/GCPD Accessibility Awards |website=Office of the Governor |access-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131118142908/http://governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/awards/apa_gcpd_accessibility_awards/ |archive-date=November 18, 2013}}"[http://www.dallaslibrary2.org/branch/whiteRockConstruction.php" Dallas Public Library. Retrieved on 21 January 2013.]

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