Minneapolis Public Library.

About Minneapolis Public Library

The Minneapolis Public Library (MPL) was a library system that served the residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1885 with the establishment of the Minneapolis Library Board by an amendment to the Minneapolis City Charter, and six of its eight members were elected by city residents. Lumber baron and philanthropist T. B. Walker and other city leaders such as Thomas Lowry were members of the first library board. In 2008, after some financial difficulties, the library was merged into the Hennepin County Library system. At the time of its merger, the library included Central Library in downtown Minneapolis and 14 branch libraries. Its collection numbered about 3.1 million items with about 2.2 million of these housed in the central library.