The Miami-Dade Public Library System traces its origin to the late nineteenth century. In 1894, libraries were formed in the communities of Coconut Grove and Lemon City. In 1902, the Coconut Grove Library Association provided a structure, and that same year the Lemon City Library and Improvement Association erected a building for its library.

The City of Miami’s Library was founded through the efforts of the Ladies’ Afternoon Club which later became the Woman’s Club of Miami. Its purpose was to encourage “reading and the discussion of literature.” By 1905, the Club was trying to provide a public reading room for its collection of books. The Club had no permanent home and for a number of years the reading room moved from place to place, as often as six times in one year! By 1913, the Miami Woman’s Club found its own building at the corner of what is today’s Southeast Second Avenue and Flagler Street (then Avenue B and Twelfth Street) on property donated by Henry Flagler. Flagler’s gift of land for the construction of a clubhouse contained a proviso that a public reading room be maintained in the building. Reliable financial support for the library was a continuing problem and in 1915 the Miami City Commission was convinced of its responsibility to support the library and allocated $50 each month. This downtown location was later sold and the Miami Woman’s Club erected its current building at 1737 North Bayshore Drive. The Flagler Memorial Library was established in this new building. By 1925, the communities of Coconut Grove and Lemon City had been annexed into the City of Miami. In January 5, 1928, the first bookmobile was proudly pictured in the Miami Herald...

The first public library serving the black community was established by the Friendship Garden Club with assistance from the Miami Woman’s Club on March 14, 1938 . It was named the Dunbar Branch and was located at 2059 N. W. 6th Court, . While the Dunbar Branch was being used, the Friendship Garden Club and the Washington Heights Library Association raised part of the funds to build a new library. The City of Miami appropriated the remainder of the money to erect a structure on land donated by Black philanthropist D. A. Dorsey. The one-story block and stucco building was named the Dorsey Memorial Library and opened on August 13, 1941 under the supervision of the Miami Public Library’s head librarian. This was the first public library building owned by the City of Miami. The City of Miami thus had several community libraries receiving various amounts of financial support from public funds.
In 1942, it was decided to bring all of these libraries together under a single public library system, governed by a Board of Trustees and administered by a head librarian, with administrative headquarters in a new downtown facility. A new main library building had been proposed for Bayfront Park in downtown Miami as early as 1938 but the proposal did not become a reality until more than a decade later. Miamians eagerly began using their new library in Bayfront Park on July 2, 1951 even before its formal dedication on July 27 of that year.

The ensuing years brought a number of new neighborhood libraries, and the closing and consolidation of others. In April 1957, the subscription library in Coconut Grove became part of the system while eight new branches were constructed over the next eight years. In December 1965, the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County reached an agreement whereby the City of Miami would provide public library service to unincorporated Dade County and to those municipalities that did not provide their own municipal library service. At this time, two existing municipal libraries, Coral Gables and South Miami, entered into the agreement with Miami-Dade County and were included in the new public library system. A year later, the Miami Springs Library was added to the system. Library service to unincorporated areas was provided by four bookmobiles.

On November 1, 1971, the City of Miami transferred its library system to Miami-Dade County which created a new Department of Libraries with a director reporting directly to the County Manager. This move gave birth to the Miami-Dade Public Library System. While some municipalities elected to continue providing public library service through their own municipal operations, the City of Homestead’s public library joined the County system on January 1, 1975. The Hispanic Branch (Rama Hispanica), serving a primarily Spanish-speaking clientele, opened August 2, 1976 in Little Havana.

Between 1976 and 1990, the “Decade of Progress” Bond Issue provided the funds to open 14 new libraries (South Dade Regional, West Dade Regional, North Dade Regional, West Kendall Regional, Northeast, Model City, Kendall, South Miami, Homestead, Miami Lakes, Coral Reef, Key Biscayne, North Central and the new Main Library) and renovate other locations. On October 1, 1986, the Miami Beach Public Library and its two branches became part of the Miami-Dade Public Library System. On January 15, 1992, the world’s first library on an elevated transit system opened at the busy Civic Center Metrorail station.

August 24, 1992 is a date burned into Miami-Dade County’s collective memory as Hurricane Andrew inflicted significant damage to the library system, completely devastating the Homestead and Coral Reef Branch and the South Dade and West Kendall Regional libraries. Nearly every library and employee was directly affected. Thanks to massive efforts and effective leadership, the Library System was rebuilt stronger than ever.

The new century has seen provided tremendous capital and technological growth for the Library System. The Doral Branch Library was dedicated on September 28, 2000. The Country Walk Branch Library was dedicated August 28, 2001, followed by the Hialeah Gardens Branch on February 13, 2002. After an absence of a decade, bookmobile service returned to outlying suburban neighborhoods on April 25, 2002. During 2003, the Library System opened new branches in Naranja Tamiami and Lakes of the Meadow. In 2004, library branches were opened in Concord and Palm Springs North. Additional libraries have since opened in California Club and Sunny Isles Beach. Miami Beach, South Shore and Fairlawn Branches were relocated to new facilities. Construction is currently underway on branches at Elizabeth Virrick Park in Coconut Grove, International Mall in Doral, Kendale Lakes and Naranja, while finishing touches are being applied on a storefront branch on Sunset Drive. In the near future the Hispanic Branch will be relocated to a new facility at S.W. 1st Street and 14th Avenue and a groundbreaking will be held for the Palmetto Bay Branch.

Today the Main Library in downtown Miami and its 41 regional and branch libraries serve a population of 1,939,775. Approximately 875,167 active cardholders borrow more than 8 million items annually, while reference librarians answer some 6 million questions each year, and over 1.5 million Internet sessions are provided free of charge.