🏢 Dallas Public Library — Dallas, Texas

Oak Lawn Branch Library

One of Dallas's oldest branch libraries and a beloved cultural anchor of the Cedar Springs LGBTQ+ community, home to one of the largest circulating collections of LGBTQ+ literature in the country.

📖 About Oak Lawn Branch Library

The Oak Lawn Branch Library is one of the oldest continuously operating libraries in the Dallas Public Library system, tracing its roots to 1929 when it began inside Sam Houston Elementary School. Its current building at 4100 Cedar Springs Road opened on December 16, 1996, built through a public-private partnership with Kroger on the same property as the neighboring grocery store. Sitting in the heart of the Cedar Springs district, the branch has become far more than a neighborhood library: it holds one of the largest circulating collections of LGBTQ+ literature in the United States, assembled by staff who began sourcing materials in the 1980s and supplemented by private donations and organizations such as the Stonewall Museum. Widely described as a cultural center and essential third space for Dallas's LGBTQ+ community, the branch also runs practical weekly programs — computer help, English-language lessons, storytimes, and sewing classes — and its sewing machines support a community closet offering free clothing alterations, particularly for transgender residents.

⭐ What makes this branch special

• Holds one of the largest circulating LGBTQ+ literature collections in the U.S.
• Roots dating to 1929, among the oldest branches in the Dallas system
• Current building opened in 1996 via a partnership with Kroger
• Community programs include a sewing-based closet with free clothing alterations

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