Library in Richfield

A Short History of the Library in Richfield

Richfield's library story is older than the building that houses it. Free library service first reached this first-ring suburb just south of Minneapolis in 1951, when a Hennepin County bookmobile began making stops for a community that had no branch of its own. As the postwar neighborhoods filled in, demand outgrew the makeshift arrangements, and in February 1975 the Augsburg Park Library opened at 7100 Nicollet Avenue — a 15,000-square-foot building designed by InterDesign, Inc. and set among native oak-savanna trees beside the park that gives it its name.

The branch has been reinvented for each new generation of readers. A 2013 remodel added a teen reading lounge and a Family Play and Learn Spot developed with the Minnesota Children's Museum, and after closing in 2024 for a full renovation the library reopened on April 21, 2025 with additional study rooms, a refreshed meeting space, updated infrastructure, and rebuilt green space and stormwater grounds. For a city that calls itself "The Urban Hometown," the Augsburg Park Library remains exactly that — a shared front porch for its roughly 37,000 residents.

About Public Libraries in Richfield

The public library in Richfield is the Augsburg Park Library, a branch of the Hennepin County Library system. A single free Hennepin County Library card — available to every county resident — unlocks all 41 locations across the county, from Richfield to downtown Minneapolis, plus a shared catalog you can request from and pick up close to home.

Richfield cardholders reach well beyond the shelves. Through the library you can borrow eBooks and audiobooks on Libby and stream films on Kanopy and Hoopla, and as a Minnesota resident you also get free, around-the-clock access to the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM) — a state-funded set of research databases covering magazines, journals, newspapers, and encyclopedias.

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