Libraries in St. Louis

The Story of the Library in St. Louis

The Mid-County Branch traces its roots to the former Clayton Public Library, which merged into the St. Louis County Library system in the early 1970s. The current building at 7821 Maryland Avenue in downtown Clayton opened on September 4, 2019, replacing the previous branch as part of SLCL's voter-funded "Your Library Renewed" capital campaign; the new branch is larger than the building it replaced and includes a redesigned parking structure.

The Rock Hill Public Library was established in 1943 and opened to the public on June 4, 1944. In 1996 it joined seven other independent suburban libraries to form the Municipal Library Consortium (MLC) of St. Louis County, a shared catalog and reciprocal-borrowing network that has since grown to nine member libraries.

About Public Libraries in St. Louis

The St. Louis area is served by two separate public library systems. The St. Louis County Library (SLCL) operates roughly 20 branches across the county — including the Mid-County Branch in Clayton — while the St. Louis Public Library (SLPL) serves the City of St. Louis independently. Some inner-ring suburbs run their own municipal libraries, such as the Rock Hill Public Library, which belongs to the Municipal Library Consortium (MLC) of St. Louis County rather than to SLCL. A free library card is available to residents of the service area, and a single card unlocks books, eBooks and audiobooks, research databases, and computer and Wi-Fi access.

Missouri Libraries 2 Go is a statewide OverDrive/Libby consortium of more than 100 Missouri libraries that pools tens of thousands of downloadable eBooks, audiobooks and digital magazines. With a card from a participating library, Missouri residents can borrow these titles for free through the Libby app. The Missouri State Library (Secretary of State) also funds MOREnet research databases used by public libraries across the state.

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