🏢 San Diego Public Library — San Diego, California

San Diego Central Library @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common

San Diego's nine-story flagship in downtown's East Village, crowned by an iconic steel-and-mesh lattice dome and home to a public charter high school built inside the library itself.

📖 About San Diego Central Library @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common

The San Diego Central Library @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common opened on September 30, 2013, replacing the system's former downtown building and giving the city a 366,673-square-foot flagship designed by San Diego architect Rob Wellington Quigley. Its most recognizable feature is the steel-and-mesh lattice dome that shelters a two-story rare book reading room at the top of the building. The sixth and seventh floors house e3 Civic High, a public charter school widely described as the only U.S. high school located inside a public library. Beyond its circulating collections, the Central Library holds specialized destinations including the Sullivan Family Baseball Research Center, a Patent and Trademark Resource Center, and a two-story art gallery. As a Federal Depository Library since 1895, it also serves as a major reference resource for the entire region. The building anchors the East Village near Petco Park, blending everyday branch services with research-grade collections under one roof.

⭐ What makes this branch special

• Steel-and-mesh lattice dome over a two-story rare book reading room
• Home to e3 Civic High, a charter school on the 6th and 7th floors
• Sullivan Family Baseball Research Center, one of the largest baseball collections in the U.S.
• Patent and Trademark Resource Center plus a dedicated art gallery

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