St. Louis Park
COMMUNITY GUIDE 2025
Library offers vast collections, connections
While the Hennepin County Library offers many large facilities in cities near St. Louis Park, the city’ s homegrown library offers access to the system for residents.
The larger Hennepin County Library serves residents in Minneapolis and its suburbs in the county, which has a population the U. S. Census Bureau estimated at nearly 1.3 million.
St. Louis Park’ s library became a part of the Hennepin County Library system in 1960 and moved into its current building at 3240 Library Lane in 1968. The county library system dates to 1922. The Minneapolis Library system merged with the county library in 2008 to create a more extensive collection and it was renovated in 2014.
The county system offers more than five million books, CDs and DVDs in 40 languages. Residents may request materials from the system’ s more than 40 library branches or other branches through the Metropolitan Library Service Agency.
But there’ s more to explore than physical media. The seed library invites residents to try their hand at growing their own produce and flowers, and to encourage their neighbors to plant more pollinators from seed to harvest. Library visitors can drop off and pick up seeds any time during the library’ s open hours. The Hennepin County Library system asks that seeds are free of chemical pesticides and are cleaned and dried before awaiting a new home at the seed library.
Library visitors can leave the building a new book, a packet of seeds or a relaxed state of mind. They can also leave with new friends and connections. Programs like drop-in literacy
games for kids, the Foreign Film Fest movie and discussion hours, group storytelling, gardening classes, Board Game Night, clay classes and business networking opportunities are available for free at the library, and programs are constantly being updated and offered. Visit hclib. org to find upcoming programs or grow your reading list.
The Friends of the St. Louis Park Library serves as an independent organization that supports the local branch library by fundraising, book sales, volunteering, promoting the library in the community and supporting activities.
The group is part of the Friends of the Hennepin County Library, which works to purchase books, provide programs for teenagers and children and work on outreach services for all system libraries.
The library’ s telephone number is 612-543-6125. It is open noon to 5 p. m. Sundays; 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays; and noon to 8 p. m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Nearby, Ridgedale Library – which serves as the system’ s headquarters – is located at 12601 Ridgedale Drive in Minnetonka. Additionally, Southdale Library is located at 7001 York Ave. S. in Edina.
St. Louis Park residents have access to Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall, in downtown Minneapolis.
For more information on the Hennepin County Library system, including the St. Louis Park Library, visit hclib. org or call 612-543-6125.
ST. LOUIS PARK | COMMUNITY GUIDE | 2025 | 15