Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library - Central Library

The MLK Jr. Memorial Library closed on Saturday, March 4, 2017 for modernization: learn more at dclibrary.org/mlkfuture. Interim services for the MLK Library (including the Library Express location, Special Collections, and the Memory Lab) began on Monday, May 8, 2017. Please visit dclibrary.org/roadtomlkfuture for more information on interim services.
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Rebel Readers

Uncensored books for the uncensored mind

Explicit language, homosexuality, politics, violence. Just a few reasons why certain books are deemed unsuitable for society by the "conservative" reader. Imagine what our world be like if we did not have those who dared to push the envelope? As Banned Books Week approaches, let us take some time out of our busy day to honor those authors who not only crossed the line, but erased it. But let's not limit that acknowledgement to authors in the United States. Let's cross our borders and look at writers around the world who shook things up in their homeland. Enjoy! 

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Tuesday Night Movies

A weekly film series for adults at 6 p.m. in Auditorium A-5.

Don't miss these Tuesday Night Movies! September 6 Money Monster After losing his life savings to bad investment advice from a TV guru, a young man threatens the host and the studio with explosives! Starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Directed by Jodie Foster.  98 mins, 2016.  R September 13 Captain America: Civil War

A crowd at the Howard Theater, 1970s

U Street Oral History Project now online

Interviews tell the story of DC's cultural corridor

Now online: our U Street Oral History Project, which gathers first-hand accounts of the historic U Street Corridor neighborhood from its heyday as “Black Broadway” in the 1920s and 1930s through the riots that devastated the area following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the present renewal.

The Memory of Light

Suicide and Depression in Young Adult Literature

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-24 year olds and 90% of those who died by suicide had an underlying mental illness such as depression. Suicide and depression can be difficult subjects to approach, but fortunately, many young adult novels dealing these topics have been written in recent years. Books may provide an excellent way to reach out to teens struggling with depression or dealing with it in their family or friends.

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Lights! Camera! Uncensored!

Celebrating Banned Books Week Through Film

September 6 The Color Purple, Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library, 6 p.m. September 16 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library, 6 p.m. September 21

Tuesday Night Movies logo

Tuesday Night Movies

A weekly film series for adults at 6 p.m. in Auditorium A-5.

Don't miss these Tuesday Night Movies!

Map of the District of Columbia

150 Historic Maps Added to Dig DC

Sycamore Row

You Can't Handle the Truth!

Novels that feature scenes in a courtroom

With television shows like Law and Order and How to Get Away with Murder bringing in amazing ratings, it would be no stretch to say that the average person enjoys fiction about the law. We all like to pretend we are involved in the case by defending the accused, piecing together clues, or even acting as a juror or judge handing down the final decision. We sit waiting until to the end of the episode to see what the truth will ultimately be.

Stack of yearbooks

Yearbook Collection on Display

Seeking yearbook donations for collection

Did you know that Special Collection’s Washingtoniana Room (3rd floor) houses a small collection of Washington, D.C. high school and college yearbooks? Our goal is to obtain a yearbook from each high school and college/university in Washington, D.C. We would love to obtain yearbooks published far enough to have genealogical value!  

Stereoview of women of the Food Administration promoting food conservation on the homefront during World War I

Library's Oldest Historic Photographs Digitized

Unique Portraits and 3D Views of District Landmarks in Dig DC

DC Public Library Special Collections is pleased to announce the digitization of its collection of stereoviews, cartes de visite, and cabinet cards. These unique photographic formats from the late 19th and early 20th century include many of the oldest photographic portraits and views of the district in the library’s collection and are now available for research and reuse in Dig DC.

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