Library Governmental Agencies
The Iowa City Public library was established in 1896 and has always served the community from a downtown location. In 2004, the Library opened its doors to a new expanded and renovated building with 81,276 square feet of space. The Iowa City Public Library is home to knowledge and entertainment for every age year round. Our diverse collections — ranging from books to puppets, from DVDs to artwork, from best-selling fiction to giant chess pieces — offer unique opportunities for our community to learn and to gather. Our eMedia collections include eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines and more. Celebrate diversity and freedom of ideas during Intellectual Freedom Month in September with lectures and discussions. Children’s programming includes Popo's Puppet Festival in the fall, Children’s Day during Iowa City's Summer of the Arts in June, and diverse activities and programs for all ages year-round. Collections are the core of the library’s mission and we strive to provide materials to satisfy all ages and interests; books, videos, audiobooks, downloadable media, art prints, compact discs and interactive media. Five meeting rooms are available as well as an ICN facility. More than 1.5 million items are checked out yearly, more than 768,000 people visit the Library, and more than 2,200 non-Library meetings were held in the past year at the Library. Forty public computers provide Internet access and wireless Internet access is available through the entire building and much of the City Plaza area. Technical support is offered at ICPL through drop-in tech help times and by calling the Library. Other outreach efforts include more than 300 off-site visits for children every year at area daycares and preschools. ICPL serves the public’s information needs through well-trained staff at the Information, Help and Children’s Desks. A large collection of Online Resources is also available on the Library's website. Visit the Library’s website, www.icpl.org for more information or call us or stop by anytime.