🏢 Austin Public Library — Austin, Texas

Terrazas Branch

Rooted in East Austin's César Chávez corridor, the Terrazas Branch grew from a single room in a neighborhood recreation center into a bilingual cornerstone of the city's historic Mexican American community.

📖 About Terrazas Branch

The Terrazas Branch traces its origins to 1961, when Austin Public Library opened the Pan-American Station in a small room inside the Pan-American Recreation Center on East Third Street. In 1969 the collection moved to a storefront at Canadian and East First streets and was renamed the Canadian Street Branch, before settling into its own building on East César Chávez Street in the 1970s. The branch is named for Henry S. Terrazas, a young Marine from East Austin who died in 1966 while fighting a forest fire. Sitting in Council District 3, it remains a neighborhood library for one of Austin's oldest and most established Mexican American communities. A César E. Chávez commemorative art project was dedicated at the branch, reflecting its deep ties to the surrounding cultural corridor. Today it continues to serve East Austin readers with a bilingual, community-centered collection and weekday hours.

⭐ What makes this branch special

• Named for Henry S. Terrazas, an East Austin Marine who died fighting a forest fire in 1966
• Descends from the 1961 Pan-American Station, one of the city's earliest branch libraries
• Anchors the East César Chávez corridor with a bilingual, community-focused collection
• A weekday branch, open Monday through Friday

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