🏢 Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System — Atlanta, Georgia

Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History

A non-circulating research library and archive in the Sweet Auburn historic district, the Auburn Avenue Research Library was the first public library in the Southeast devoted to the history and culture of people of African descent.

📖 About Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History

The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History (AARL) opened in May 1994 at 101 Auburn Avenue NE, anchoring the western end of Atlanta's Sweet Auburn historic district. It holds the distinction of being the first public library in the Southeast to provide specialized reference, archival, and educational services centered on the culture and history of peoples of African descent. Rather than a lending branch, it functions as a research repository, drawing students, scholars, and the general public to its manuscript collections, photographs, oral histories, artifacts, and rare materials. Its home in Sweet Auburn — the heart of Black Atlanta's business and civic life — situates the collection within the very community whose history it documents. The library complements its archives with meeting rooms, study rooms, and cultural programming.

⭐ What makes this branch special

• First public library in the Southeast focused on the African diaspora
• Opened May 1994 in the historic Sweet Auburn district
• A research and archival repository, not a standard lending branch
• Manuscript collections, photographs, oral histories, and artifacts for scholars and the public

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