Detroit Public Library
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| Established | 1865 |
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| Location | 5201 Woodward Avenue Detroit, Michigan |
| Branches | 21 |
| Collection | |
| Size | 7,572,562 |
| Access and use | |
| Population served | 918,849 |
| Other information | |
| Director | Jo Anne Mondowney |
| Website | |
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Detroit Public Library
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| Built | 1921, 1963 |
| Architect | Cass Gilbert |
| Architectural style | Italian Renaissance |
| Part of | Cultural Center Historic District (#83003791) |
| Significant dates | |
| Designated CP | November 21, 1983 |
| Designated MSHS | January 24, 1964 |
The Detroit Public Library (DPL) is the largest library system in the U.S. state of Michigan by volumes held (after the University of Michigan Library) and is the 20th largest library system (and the fourth-largest public library system) in the United States. It is composed of the Main Library on Woodward Avenue, which houses DPL administration offices, and 23 branch locations across the city. The Main Library is part of Detroit's Cultural Center Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places adjacent to Wayne State University campus and across from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Designed by Cass Gilbert, the Detroit Public Library was constructed with Vermont marble and serpentine Italian marble trim in an Italian Renaissance style. His son, Cass Gilbert, Jr. was a partner with Francis J. Keally in the design of the library's additional wings added in 1963. Among his other buildings, Cass Gilbert designed the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC, the Minnesota State Capitol and the Woolworth Building in New York City.
A stand-alone public library in Detroit dates back to 1865. An 1842 state law requiring the Detroit Board of Education to open a library resulted in a public reading room opening on March 25, 1865 in the old Capitol High School at State and Griswold Street. In 1872, the Centre Park Library opened across the street from the current location of the Skillman Branch in downtown Detroit at Gratiot and Library Street. The first branch library opened in 1897 when the Detroit Water Commission library was opened to the public; in 1905 this library was turned over to the Detroit Library Commission.
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