The Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) is the largest public library system in Kentucky. Officially opened in 1908, the library's main site resides south of Broadway in downtown Louisville. Additional branches were added over time, including the Western Branch, which was the first Carnegie-housed library in the U.S. built solely for African Americans.
In 1950 the library became the first library in the nation to put its own FM-radio station on...
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The Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) is the largest public library system in Kentucky. Officially opened in 1908, the library's main site resides south of Broadway in downtown Louisville. Additional branches were added over time, including the Western Branch, which was the first Carnegie-housed library in the U.S. built solely for African Americans.
In 1950 the library became the first library in the nation to put its own FM-radio station on the air—WFPL. A second station, WFPK, joined it a few years later. Then in 1969, a $4 million north building was added to the Revival-style Carnegie structure. This provided an additional 110,000 square feet (10,000 m) of floor space, compared to the 42,000 in the original building.
At one time LFPL had over 30 branches, but because of lack of funding a number of branches were forced to close. Currently, there are 16 branches, in addition to the main library site.
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