List of Hennepin County Library branches

The Hennepin County Library, which serves Hennepin County, Minnesota, including the city of Minneapolis, consists of 41 branches in 24 cities and towns. Of these, 15 are in Minneapolis; collectively they made up the Minneapolis Public Library until they were absorbed by the Hennepin system in the merger. Four branches (Central, Franklin, Hosmer, and Sumner) were originally founded as Carnegie libraries. Several other libraries, separate from the system, also operate within the county's boundaries.

Many of the branches of the current library system were established by entities other than the system itself. The Minneapolis Public Library was founded in 1885 to serve Minneapolis, the county's largest city. It opened its first two branches in 1890. During the 1890s, many areas of Minnesota, especially rural zones, lacked free libraries. Over the course of the decade a patchwork of private and legislative efforts sought to deal with the dearth. The city of Hopkins established its own independent library system in 1912; in 1913, other Minnesota cities including Wayzata and Robbinsdale were recorded as having library associations or clubs of their own.

Hennepin County established a library service of its own in early 1922, which entailed taking control of some of the smaller cities' branches (including Robbinsdale's) as well as the creation of a bookmobile which was scheduled to run nine routes per month by 1926. In 1934, Minneapolis was awarded a $125,000 endowment from the Carnegie Corporation for four branch buildings. By the mid-1950s, there were 25 branch libraries, and the bookmobile reached 1,300 families.

The Hennepin County Library board was established as a separate entity in 1965 as a building initiative to serve the rest of the county. The two library boards first discussed the idea of a merger in 1967. Due to concerns about properly serving the residents and city of Minneapolis, the merger debate ended in 1974, keeping both groups separate. In 2007, the merger was revisited and the Minneapolis Public Library officially joined the Hennepin County Library system at the beginning of 2008.

Historically, the library operated a bookmobile that started in 1922. In 1955, the bookmobile was serving 1,500–1,600 families and 16 schools, and in 1962 that figure was up to 6,000 families. The library still offers outreach services in the form of mailing or delivering materials to the home of patrons unable to physically access the library system.

The following libraries are no longer operational:

• Crystal Bay (closed in August 1955)
• Dayton (1968–1978)
• Hamel (1922–1968)
• Longfellow (closed in 1968 and replaced by the Nokomis Library)
• Morningside (closed in December 1976)
• North Community Library (the city's first branch library; 1893–1979)
• Seven Corners (1912–1964)
• Stubbs Bay (closed in August 1955)
• Robbinsdale (community now served by the Rockford Road library)

The Hennepin County Library formerly operated school libraries in rural communities and a library in Glen Lake Sanatorium.

Within Hennepin County there are several other libraries that are not part of the Hennepin County Library system. Many of these are connected with colleges and universities, including Lindell Library at Augsburg University, Minneapolis Community and Technical College Library (located in Whitney Hall), Normandale Community College Library, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Library, North Central University's T.J. Jones Library and the University of Minnesota Libraries. Also in the county are the Minneapolis Institute of Art Museum Library, the Hennepin County Law Library, and the independent Quatrefoil Library which holds collections related to the LGBTQ+ community.

• List of Carnegie libraries in Minnesota

• Benidt, Bruce Weir (1984). The Library Book: Centennial History of the Minneapolis Public Library. Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis Public Library and Information Center. ISBN 978-0-9613716-0-9.
• Christensen, Karen; Levinson, David, eds. (2007). Heart of the Community: The Libraries We Love. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-9770159-2-4.
• Millett, Larry (2007). AIA Guide to the Twin Cities: The Essential Source on the Architecture of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87351-540-5.
• Wezeman, Frederick (1956). The Public Libraries of Minneapolis and Hennepin County: Survey of Factors Affecting their Future Relations. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Library School. OCLC 869185229.