Long Beach Public Library
public library system in California, USA
The Long Beach Public Library (LBPL) is an American public library system located in Long Beach, California.
Main Library
The Main Library's first building was funded by a $30,000 donation from Andrew Carnegie and $4,000 of city funds. The Library opened in 1909 within Pacific Park, now known as Lincoln Park, downtown on Pacific Avenue at Broadway. When the building site was condemned for construction of a New Main Library and City Hall building in the late 1970s, the library was moved to a building located on Ximeno Avenue, for a period of about 18 months.
In 2015, the Long Beach Public Library became the first library in California to begin circulating zines publicly in its collection. Now the main branch houses a few hundred zines to take home.
In January 2019, the Main Library was permanently closed in lieu of the new location, which reopened on September 21, 2019, as the Billie Jean King Main Library, with King attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony herself. The building occupies a first floor and lower level at 101 Pacific Avenue, at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Pacific Avenue, across the park from its former location.
The library displays nine murals titled "9 Children's Stories" by artist Suzanne Miller, created with the support of the Federal Art Project and Works Progress Administration.
Branches
In addition to the main library, there are eleven branches:
Alamitos Branch, Bluff Heights/Franklin/Carroll Park
Ruth Bach Branch, Lakewood Village
Bay Shore Branch, Belmont Shore/Naples
Brewitt Branch, Recreation Park/Bryant
Burnett Branch, Sunrise/Wrigley
Dana Branch, California Heights
El Dorado Branch, El Dorado Park
Bret Harte Branch, West Long Beach
Los Altos Branch, Los Altos
Michelle Obama Branch, North Long Beach
Mark Twain Branch Hellman
The Alamitos branch was constructed by the Works Progress Administration in 1938.
“Long Beach Public Library” enters the record as public library system in California, USA. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Long, Beach and Public can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Long Beach Public Library” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Long, Beach and Public provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6672332. Authority coordinates are 33.768, -118.195. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1909, 2015, 2019 and 1938.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Long Beach Public Library”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Long Beach Public Library primary sources, Long Beach Public Library archive and Long research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Long Beach Public Library”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Long Beach Public Library” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.