Minneapolis Central Library
The Minneapolis Central Library is a public library located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the largest library in the Hennepin County Library system. It bills itself as having "the third largest per capita public library collection of any major city in America with a collection of more than 2.4 million items—including books, DVDs, music, government documents." The 353,000-square-foot (32,800 m2) building at 300 Nicollet Mall with two levels of underground parking was designed by César Pelli and opened on May 20, 2006. It has over 300 computers for use by the public, an 8,140-square-foot (756 m2) atrium, an 18,560-square-foot (1,724 m2) green roof planted with low-growing ground cover designed to "be sun- and drought-resistant", and a host of energy-efficiency measures.
The exterior of the library on the Nicollet Mall side
A photograph from around 1900 of the first central Minneapolis Public Library, which cost $324,894.
The second central Minneapolis Public Library building opened in 1961 as part of urban renewal for downtown Minneapolis
The new Central Library under construction in 2004
Central is a defined community in Minneapolis that consists of six smaller official neighborhoods around the downtown and central business core. It also includes the many old flour mills, the Mill District, and other historical and industrial areas of downtown Minneapolis. It also includes some high-density residential areas surrounding it, excluding areas east of the Mississippi River. Businesses and government buildings are based in the Central area include the corporate headquarters of the Star Tribune, Target, US Bancorp, the Hennepin County Government Center, Minneapolis Central Library, Minneapolis City Hall, and the broadcast facilities of the Minnesota CBS station WCCO-TV.
The skyline of Minneapolis in July 2008
View of downtown Minneapolis from the Stone Arch Bridge.
White U.S. Bancorp towers reflected in the Capella Tower.
Minneapolis Skyline from Target Field.