Reading occupies an important place in our life. One of the things we should do to improve ourselves is to read a book. There are lots of beautiful libraries in Dallas for people who love books. The libraries have differences such as size and distance from downtown Dallas.
Dallas Public Libraries
Not even just traditional books, you can borrow online materials, including the Great Courses, movies, and ebooks. You can access OverDrive, Libby, Hoopla, Flipster, and, PressReader for free.
The J. Erik Jonsson Central Library first opened in 1982! It was named after the 49th mayor of Dallas, who served the city between 1964 and 1971. It was his dream to see this library exist, and it is one of the country’s biggest public library buildings! It is estimated to be over 646,000 square feet! The library has eight floors! The 1st Floor is called the Downtown Branch and contains the current collections of fiction and nonfiction, large print & audiobook collections, travel guides, and magazines. The 2nd floor includes the Youth Discovery Center and the following collections: Children’s books, DVDs & audiobooks, the Siddie Joe Johnson Historic Literature Collection, the young adult book collection, young adults and children’s graphic novels, and Children’s Spanish and world language collections. The 3rd floor has Literature, Language, and Religion Collections: Fiction and science fiction collections; religion, philosophy & parapsychology collections; Spanish, world language & language learning materials; Folktales, journalism & writing collections; and Poetry and plays.
The 4th floor of the library contains Arts, Music & Movies. The collections it contains are visual arts, music, performing arts collections, Fashion, interior design, and architecture collections DVDs, CDs, and LPs, as well as a Graphic novel collection. The 5th floor has Business, Science & Technology Collections: Business, economics & entrepreneurship collections; cookbooks & sports collections; car repair guides, Science & technology collections; Health & medicine collections; and the Nancy & Jake L. Hamon Oil and Gas Resource Center.
The 6th Floor contains the City Life, Education & Work Skills Collections: Job search, resumes & test guides, Social science, political science, grants information & urbanism collections, a patent & trademark resource center, taxes, immigration, and government information. The 7th Floor of the library contains Dallas History & Archives collections: Historic photographs, maps & newspapers, manuscript Collections, Historic books, county records & oral histories, a Virginia Lazenby O’Hara Fine Books Collection, and a JFK Collection. The final 8th Floor contains the Genealogy & History Collections: a nationally acclaimed genealogy collection, ethnic, cultural & international histories, topographic maps, and atlases!
The best thing about this library is that if it’s not the closest library to you, you can have almost anything ordered from it and brought to the library closest to you! It’s part of what makes the library system so wonderful! The following are the libraries found in the Dallas Public Library System:
Arcadia Park – Free WiFi and Offers Regular Storytime for Children!
Audelia Road – Free WiFi, Offers a Book Discussion Group, and a Job Seekers Resource Center!
Bachman Lake – Free WiFi, Offers Blackbox Theater and Regular Storytime for Children!
Bookmarks in NorthPark Center – It is a children’s Library for ages 0-12!
Dallas West – Free WiFi, and it contains a teen center as well as regular storytime for Children!
Forest Green – Free WiFi and Regular Storytime for Children!
Fretz Park – Free WiFi and a Book Discussion Group!
Grauwyler Park – Free WiFi and a Regular Storytime for Children!
Hampton-Illinois – Free WiFi and Black Box theater!
Highland Hills – Free WiFI and regular storytime for children!
Kleberg-Rylie – Free WiFi, regular storytime for children, and a book discussion group!
Lakewood – Free WiFi, teen center, a book discussion group, and regular storytime for children!
Lochwood – Free WiFI, a book discussion group, and regular storytime for children!
Martin Luther King, Jr. – Free WiFi, an African-American History collection, and regular storytime for children!
Mountain Creek – Free WiFi and storytime for Children!
North Oak Cliff – Weekly afterschool activity for kids, Free WiFi, Regular Storytime for Children, a large Spanish Language Collection, a Book Discussion Group, and a Brush Up! Adult Painting Group
Oak Lawn -Free WiFi, a Novel Discussions Book Club, an Addictive Books Club, GLBT Resources and a Spanish Language Collection, and a Knitting Group
Park Forest – Free WiFi and Regular Storytime for Children
Paul Laurence Dunbar Lancaster-Kiest – Free WiFi, Regular Storytime for Children, and a Book Discussion Group
Pleasant Grove – Free WiFi, Regular Storytime for Children, and a Job Seekers Resource Center
Polk-Wisdom – Free WiFi and Regular Storytime for Children
Prairie Creek – Free WiFi and Regular Storytime for Children
Preston Royal – Free WiFi and Regular Storytime for Children
Renner Frankford – Free WiFi and Regular Storytime for Children
Skillman Southwestern – Free WiFi, Regular Storytime for Children, and a Book Discussion Group
Skyline – a Teen Center, Free WiFi and Regular Storytime for Children
Timberglen – Free WiFi and Regular Storytime for Children
Vickery Park -Free WiFi
White Rock Hills – Free WiFi
In whichever part of Dallas you may find yourself in, chances are you’re not far from a library! Don’t miss out on an opportunity to find interesting books, watch the black box theater, or take advantage of the resources and collections available!