219 Loyola Avenue 70112
504 596-2560
10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Mon. - Thurs.
10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Fri. & Sat.
The Main Library, on the edge of New Orleans' downtown Civic Center, opened in December, 1958. The building, encompassing three main floors and two sub-basements, is NOPL's flagship location, providing the system's largest collection of popular and research sources. The building also houses NOPL's administrative offices, technical services, a technology center, and the YMCA's adult literacy program.
504 596-2597
Second Floor
The African American Resource Center (AARC) is a reference division that offers patrons a variety of resource materials on the African experience in the Americas. The AARC opened its door to the public in January 1997. The Center is responsible for NOPL's collection development in the area of African American studies, cultural programming and development and acquisition of educational resources that relate to African Americans.
504 596-2588
Second Floor
The Children’s Room provides an excellent selection of picture books, series fiction, easy-readers, award-winning and popular novels, reference materials and internet access. The Children's Room also presents a variety of crafts activities, storytimes, and other programming for children and parents.
504 596-2560
First Floor
The Circulation Desk is the first desk patrons encounter upon entering the library. Here patrons can register for library cards, check items in or out, and pick up items placed on hold. Fax services are also available at the circulation desk.
- Facts About Borrowing Materials from NOPL
- Link here to download a Library Card Application (in English)
- Link here to download a Library Card Application (in Spanish)
(and then bring the completed form, with appropriate identification, to any NOPL library to complete your registration)
504 596-2570
First Floor
The Information Division, located on the first floor of the Main Library, houses both fiction and nonfiction materials. The Fiction Collection includes the Popular Reading Collection (current bestsellers) and several special fiction collections (including Science Fiction, Mysteries, and Large Print Materials) in addition to a large general fiction collection.
The nonfiction collection contains circulating and reference material in all of the Dewey Decimal system numbers except for the 700’s (2nd Floor for those). Some of the most heavily used parts of the collection include: college directory collection and college test preparation materials, automobile repair manuals, resumé guides, health and wellness materials, home repair and construction, computer books, cookbooks, local history materials, travel and history.
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The Division also maintains a selective depository of U.S. Government publications. Link here for the Federal Depository Library Basic Collection List. |
New Orleans Public Library is a Cooperating Collection of the Foundation Center. As a member of this nationwide network of libraries, community foundations, and other nonprofit agencies, NOPL provides visitors with free public access to grantmaker directories, books on fundraising and nonprofit management, and the Foundation Center's electronic database, Foundation Directory Online Professional. The fully searchable database (available to users at the Main Library only, in the Technology Center) includes detailed profiles of all active U.S. foundations, as well as an extensive file of recent grants awarded by the nation's top funders.
The Technology Center, a large public access computer facility, is managed by the Information Division staff.
504 596-2610
Third Floor
The Louisiana Division is a reference division which collects resources relating to the study of Louisiana and its citizens and to the city of New Orleans and New Orleanians. Other areas of concentration are the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, and the South. Included within the Division's collections are books by or about Louisianians; city, regional, and state documents; manuscripts, maps, newspapers, periodicals, microfilms, photographs, slides, motion pictures, sound recordings, video tapes, postcards, and ephemera of every sort. The Louisiana Division also houses the City Archives, the official repository for the records of New Orleans municipal government (1769-present), and holds on deposit the pre-1927 records of the civil courts and the pre-1932 records of the criminal courts of Orleans Parish. The Division's extensive Genealogy Collection contains books, periodicals and microfilms with emphasis on New Orleans, Louisiana, the Southeast United States, Nova Scotia, France, and Spain.
504 596-2565
Second Floor
The Periodicals and Young Adult Division (PAR) maintains the general-interest periodicals collection of New Orleans Public Library. PAR maintains subscriptions to over 150 popular magazines and newspapers and their back files, as well as back issue access to hundreds more from years past. In addition, PAR offers the largest collection of audiovisual materials in the New Orleans Public Library system. The division stocks VHS's and DVD's, music CD's, and audiobooks (fiction, non-fiction, and language learning). PAR also oversees the downloadable audio and e-books
- For Teen Zone Programs, see our Events Calendar
- Visit the Teen Zone on Facebook
First Floor
The Technology Center, a large public access computer facility, is managed by the Information Division staff.
504 596-3842
Third Floor
After Hurricane Katrina destroyed the YES! facilities, NOPL offered the YMCA's adult literacy program the use of the Main Library's Learning Center space (having lost our Learning Center staff) -- and a flourishing partnership was born.
YMCA Educational Services (YES!) is the adult literacy branch of the YMCA of Greater New Orleans. YES! provides quality instruction to adults ages 16 and older in reading, math, and language. The goal is to give adults the skills they need to find better jobs, help children with homework, or effectively manage household finances.
YES! serves adults who read at the 8th grade level or below. It is the only adult education provider in the area that focuses exclusively on serving these lowest-level learners.
Classes are held Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.
12/3/2012