Memphis Public Library

History

1880s: Founding

The history of Memphis Public Libraries began in the 1880s, when the city received $75,000 from Frederick Cossitt to build a public library on a plot of land near the Mississippi River. With the city promising funds for operations, Cossitt's gift was used entirely on the construction of the library, resulting in an elaborate Romanesque design by architect L.B. Wheeler.

However, when the library opened on April 12, 1893, it was soon made clear that the city government lacked funds for books; upon its grand opening, the library's shelves were empty. Memphians acted quickly, holding fundraisers and events that would eventually fill the Cossitt Library with books and research materials.

1900s to 1990s: Growth and change

In March 1925, Jesse Cunningham was hired to serve as former library director Charles Dutton Johnston's successor. A graduate from the New York State Library School, Cunningham introduced a number of new standards to Memphis. In 1931 Cunningham established libraries were established in Shelby County schools, and a bookmobile began to service up to fifteen rural communities. By 1939 a library branch for African Americans was built on Vance Avenue, which has since been named for longtime Vance resident and civil rights activist, Cornelia Crenshaw.

Desegregation

Not long after the construction of the Highland branch and main library in 1951 and 1955, respectively, C. Lamar Wallis was brought on after Cunningham's retirement in 1958. Under Wallis's leadership a branch was built in nearly every section of the county. In 1973, it was decided that city and county governments would jointly fund local libraries, marking the creation of the Memphis/Shelby County Public Library system.

Despite advancements, library facilities remained racially segregated, leading African-American accountant Jesse H. Turner to sue the Memphis Public in 1958.

Sit-in demonstrations were also held by black college students. On March 20, 1960, students sat in at the Central Library and the Cossitt Reference Library.Knowlton, Steven A.“The Foundation of Cossitt Library and the Inauguration of Library Service to African Americans in Memphis and Shelby County.” West Tennessee Historical Society Papers 71 (2017): 36–64. They were arrested and jailed. This event, combined with Turner's lawsuit, led to the desegregation of all public libraries in October 1960.

Controversy during Wallis's tenure continued; in 1969 he gained national attention for refusing to remove Phillip Roth's novel Portnoy's Complaint against the mayor's objections. This along with his call to desegregate Memphis's public libraries led Wallis to receive the Tennessee Library Association's Freedom of Information Award in 1998.

Judith A. Drescher: First female director

Judith A. Drescher was brought on in 1985 as the sixth library director, and the first female library director in Memphis. She exercised the system's belief that libraries are a core information source for the community by bringing underserved areas library services via mobile units. Additionally, she oversaw the construction of the Cordova and East Shelby branches.

2000s to present

In 2001, the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library opened to the public. It featured a multi-story hub comprising a large children's section, space for communal gatherings, reading rooms, computer training labs, and more. To this day the Benjamin L. Hooks branch continues to be a source of innovation in the community, with its recent addition of teen learning lab CLOUD901.

On January 9, 2024, the Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to leave the MPL system, being the last of the eight suburbs in Shelby County to do so.

Branches

Memphis Public Libraries operates 18 branches throughout Shelby County, including the main Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library branch located in East Memphis.

WYPL

Main article: WYPL

WYPL (89.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station that provides an open radio reading service to patrons. Book readings, author interviews, and both local and international news programming are among the station's offerings. The wide array of broadcasts spans from Eye On Vision, a program featuring doctors' input on the latest research in the field of vision and eye care, to AfricaLink, which provides insight into the latest developments in African news. The station's diverse and quality content has led it to be selected as the Model Radio Reading Service by the American Foundation for the Blind.

References

References

1. (2015-10-20). "About Library Locations". Memphislibrary.org.
2. "2023 Year in Review".
3. (March 8, 1888). "A Munificent Bequest". The Memphis Avalanche.
4. (March 7, 1890). "No Reference Library Wanted". The Memphis Avalanche.
5. Wayne., Dowdy, G.. (2010). "Hidden history of Memphis". History Press.
6. Holden, A. H.. (December 18, 1932). "Frederick Cossitt: Who Gave the Library to Memphis". The Commercial Appeal.
7. Clubb, Deborah M.. (November 4, 2001). "Public Library System Has A Proud History". The Commercial Appeal.
8. Knowlton, Steven A.“The ‘Negro Branch’ Library in Memphis: A Case Study of Public Services in a Segregated Southern City.” ''Libraries: Culture, History, and Society'' 1, no. 1 (2017): 23–45.
9. Wallis, C. Lamar. (1976). "Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science". M. Dekker.
10. Knowlton, Steven A. “‘Since I Was a Citizen, I Had the Right to Attend the Library’: The Key Role of the Public Library in the Civil Rights Movement in Memphis.” ''An Unseen Light: Black Struggles for Freedom in Memphis, Tennessee.'' Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2018. 203-27.
11. Knowlton, Steven A.. (2015). "Memphis Public Library Service to African Americans, 1903-1961: A History of its Inauguration, Progress, and Desegregation,"".
12. "Past Intellectual Freedom Winners - Tennessee Library Association".
13. "TL v59:4 Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, Memphis, TN - Tennessee Library Association".
14. Risher, Wayne. (November 11, 2001). "What's stone and glass and now read all over?". [[The Commercial Appeal]].
15. "Benjamin L. Hooks Centeral Library – Floor Map – Memphis Public Libraries".
16. Waddell, Michael. "Bartlett opts to sever ties with Memphis library system".
17. "Locations, Phone & Hours – Memphis Public Libraries".
18. (April 10, 2023). "Memphis' first historical public library reopens".
19. Douglas, Stephanie. (May 16, 2025). "New library officially opens in Frayser".
20. Black, Judy. (December 20, 2023). "City renames library after fallen Memphis Police officer".
21. Moore, Joel. (April 27, 2024). "A new chapter—Old Melrose High School building reopens as first-ever Orange Mound library after 4 decades".
22. Yusuf, Omer. (December 5, 2020). "Final piece of Raleigh Springs Civic Center near completion".
23. "Eye on Vision".
24. "WYPL FM & TV 18 – Memphis Public Libraries".