Arlington Central Library

🏢 Arlington Public Library · Arlington, Virginia

Arlington Central Library

Arlington Central Library is the flagship branch of Arlington Public Library, serving one of Northern Virginia's most diverse and highly educated communities with extensive digital resources, passport services, and the Charlie Clark Center for Local History.

👋 Use the Library Online

📖 About Arlington Central Library

Arlington Public Library has grown into a nine-branch system serving Arlington County, Virginia — a densely populated urban county directly across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., with a population of more than 240,000. The Central Library at 1015 North Quincy Street is the system's flagship location, offering the county's broadest collection of physical and digital materials alongside specialized services not found at branch locations. The library achieved a significant milestone in reaching 100,000 library cardholders, reflecting its role as a civic anchor in one of the most engaged library communities in the country. The Quincy Street entrance was temporarily closed during building upgrades, with free two-hour parking available in the adjacent garage. Central Library houses the Charlie Clark Center for Local History, which preserves Arlington's documentary heritage including the REAL Archives Project documenting Re-Encuentro de Arlington Latinos and over 2,800 photographs from the Arlington Courier covering local life in the 1980s and 1990s. The library was also formally designated an official 'book sanctuary,' affirming its commitment to intellectual freedom and open access.

⭐ What makes this library special

• Flagship of the nine-branch Arlington Public Library system serving 240,000+ residents
• Charlie Clark Center for Local History — REAL Archives, Arlington Courier photography collection
• Official 'book sanctuary' designation affirming open access to all materials
• Passport acceptance facility serving the Northern Virginia region
• Museum passes, notary services, and The Shop Makerspace available to cardholders

📱 Digital Resources — Free with Your Library Card

Arlington library cards unlock Find It Virginia, hoopla, Libby, and more — the full statewide digital toolkit of the Library of Virginia.

📍 Nearby Libraries in Northern Virginia

Distances are approximate straight-line miles from this library.

All libraries in ARLINGTON  ·  Browse all Virginia libraries →

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

🎨 This library lends museum passes. See how library museum passes work and find other libraries that lend passes museum passes by state.

📋 This library offers notary services. See what a library notary can do — what to bring, fees and appointments — and find other libraries with a notary notary services by state.

📜 This library has genealogy & local-history resources. See how library family-history research works and find other libraries with genealogy collections genealogy libraries by state.

🔨 This library has a makerspace / 3D printing. See how library makerspaces and 3D printing work and find other libraries with a makerspace makerspaces by state.

🖨 This library offers printing, copying & fax. See how library printing, copying, scanning and fax services work — costs and mobile printing — and find other libraries that offer them printing & fax by state.

📅 This library has meeting & community rooms. See how library meeting rooms work — booking, policies and fees — and find other libraries with meeting or community rooms meeting rooms by state.

🛂 This library offers U.S. passport services. See how library passport acceptance works — requirements, fees and appointments — and find other passport acceptance libraries by state.

✓ Hours & details last verified from official sources in September 2026.

✎ Notice something out of date? Suggest a correction and we’ll verify and update it.

🏛 Other Arlington Public Library Locations in ARLINGTON