Library

Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

Central (downtown Buffalo)

1 Lafayette Square
Buffalo , NY 14203 Map
716-858-8900

Click here for a map!


The next scheduled holiday for this location is 09/03/2018 (Labor Day)

Library Hours
SunClosed
Mon08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Tue08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Wed08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Thu08:30 AM - 08:00 PM
Fri08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Sat08:30 AM - 06:00 PM

*Sunday hours for the remainder of 2018 run from September 9 through December 30.

Enter the downtown Central Library from the either one of these handicapped accessible entrances:

Directions to Central Library

Map of the Central Library

Programs & Events @ Central Library Aug 13-19

Summer 2018 Passport to Reading

Huge Annual Book Sale, Thurs., Aug. 16 - Sat., Aug 18

Indie Author Day Details and Application

Chairman's Book Club, September 2018

See the Library on Wheels Bookmobile @ MLK Jr., Park this summer!
 
The Great American Read - book checklist, taping dates & more!
 
Read Down Your Fines Summer Reading 2018
 
Central Library Photo Album by Buffalo News Photographer Mark Mulville
 
Buffalo Spree Magazine July 2017 interview with Library Director Mary Jean Jakubowski. 

Your Return on Investment - 2017, based on 2016 statistics

2017 Library Statistics 

Day in the Life of  A Library System, February 2017

Open eBooks Free app for children 

Literally Speaking 2018

Siena Poll - Library Use & Perception Results

Wireless Internet Access Available
 

Fables Cafe , a full service café, located on the main floor of Central Library, is open Monday through Saturday for breakfast and lunch.

Here is the Fables menu.


Assistive Technology Room (ATR) is open during all regular open hours.

 

 

 


Video
Videotaped Library programs, readings, lectures, and discussions of interest to the community can be found right here!

AUDIO Recording - September 9, 2017 Placemaking Workshop hosted by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library and facilitated by Project for Public Spaces 


Imagining Buffalo Niagara in the 21st Century

 

A lecture/discussion series held every Tuesday in the Central Library.

Click here to select from the audio archives.

Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Art, Architecture, History and Nature (C-SAAHN) in conjunction with the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library.


Rare Book Room: Researchers are advised to call for an appointment at 858-8900.

About the Central Library: Extending two city blocks in length and encompassing more than 400,000 square feet of floor space (and more than 58 miles of shelving), the Central Library located in Lafayette Square is in the heart of downtown Buffalo and is headquarters of the Buffalo &  Erie County Public Library System.

Completed in 1964, this facility houses approximately 2 million volumes, special exhibition rooms for rare and valuable materials like the Mark Twain Room, Collections Gallery and Rare Book Room, a computer training lab, Launch Pad - MakerSpace, plus a host of centralized administrative and support operations for the entire 37-outlet Library System. 

Central Library has a  324-seat auditorium with a Steinway grand piano as well as two meeting rooms which may be reserved for events by outside not for profits organizations and businesses.  Central Library also features a full service cafe, Fables Cafe, open for breakfast and lunch Mondays - Saturdays.  Author visits, children's programming, book clubs, speaker events, chess programs, movies and more are regular happenings at the Central Library. For more information visit our calendar page at: http://host6.evanced.info/buffalolib/evanced/eventcalendar.asp?dt=mo&mo=5/1/2015&Lib=5&et=&ag

Black and white copies from a copy machine are available for 15 cents each. Color copies are available for 50 cents each. Public access computers are available. Printing from public access computers is available for 10 cents per black and white page and 25 cents per color page.

The Library has a fax machine located near Borrower Services by the Washington St. entrance.  Faxing is $1.75 for the first page and a $1 for each additional page. 

"What can I do at a Public Access Computer?"

Wireless access is also available throughout the Library on all floors.

Now on Display at the Central Library

Collections Gallery

Meeting Rooms at the Central Library

Specialized Databases at the Central Library

Special Collections

Grosvenor Room (Genealogy, Music, Rare Books)

Mark Twain Room

More Collections Organized by Topic

 Library System Information on the Board of Trustees

The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library System Board of Trustees is the governing body for the downtown Central Library, and the eight branch libraries located in the city of Buffalo. These include: Crane, Dudley, East Clinton, East Delavan, Frank E. Merriweather, Jr., Niagara, North Park and the Riverside Branch Libraries. 

All System Board of Trustee meetings and committee meetings are open to the public

To see monthly board meeting schedules, agendas and minutes, click here
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