Hennepin County Library

Hennepin County Library is a public library system in Hennepin County, Minnesota. The system has 41 libraries and over 4 million books, making it one of the largest library systems in the United States. The headquarters are located in Minnetonka. It is the largest of 8 public library systems in the Twin Cities.

 History 
The system was founded in 1885 as the Minneapolis Public Library. The first building was the Main Library which opened in 1889. Smaller branches were added in 1890.

Hennepin County Library started in 1922 as a horse-drawn bookmobile to areas outside of Minneapolis. By 1952, there were 24 bookmobiles in the system. In the early 1970s, there were plans to merge the Minneapolis Public Library with the Hennepin County Library. These two systems merged on January 1, 2008.

 Branches 

 Minneapolis 

 City locations 

 Bookmobile 
Hennepin County Library started a bookmobile in 1922.

 Library directors 

 Gratia Countryman, 1922–1925
 Ethel Berry, 1925–1947
 Helen Young, 1947–1969
 Robert H. Rohlf, 1969–1994
 Charles M. Brown, 1994–2004
 Amy Ryan, 2005–2008
 Lois Langer Thompson, 2009–2018
 Janet Mills, 2018–2020
 Chad Helton, August 24, 2020 – February 25, 2022
 Dan Rogan, February 25, 2022 – October 9, 2023
 Scott Duimstra, October 9, 2023 – present

 References 

 Other websites 

 Hennepin County Library
 Hennepin County Library merger page (Archive)
 History of the Hennepin County Library

Category:Minnesota
Category:Education in the United States
Category:Libraries in Hennepin County Library
Category:1885 establishments in the United States
Category:1922 establishments in the United States