lnsider view of this extraordinary building! 30 minute tours offered on the hour, starting at 10 a.m. (last tour at 3 p.m.) Led by knowledgeable library staff, you will be treated to highlights including an overview of library services and the history of the Library, our local history and genealogy room, the Mark Twain room and a peek at our 2-city-block-long Tiers where we store books – not normally viewable by the public. We will also have a hands on button making activity for kids and families. Meet in front of the Launch Pad on the first floor for tours.

The Central Library at 1 Lafayette Square opened in 1964 and replaces an earlier Library (in service 1887-1963) on this highly visible site in the middle of Downtown. At this location (previously the site of Erie County’s earliest courthouse and jail), Library services co‐ existed with the early collections that originated today’s Buffalo Museum of Science,
the Buffalo History Museum, and the Buffalo AKG Art Callery― truly a cultural birthplace for Buffalo!

The present Library was designed by local firm Kideney Architects to house an urban library branch and the centralized collections and functions of today’s Erie County― wide, 37-site Buffalo & Erie County Public Library System. Its unique design encompasses 400,000 square feet of space-2 city blocks big and 5 stories ta‖. Two of the floors are non― public storage areas for over 3threemillion items.  The Library has over 57 miles of shelves and houses 40,000 items in our Rare Books & Special Collections. Display areas, office spaces for Library staff and our co-tenants, community meeting rooms, a computer training  lab, Launch Pad makerspace, and a 300-seat Auditorium are based here at the Central Library.

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