Great River Regional Library
Location	Central Minnesota
Type	Public library
Established	September 25, 1969[1]
Branches	32[1]
Collection
Size	850,000 items in catalog (in 2017)[2]
Access and use
Circulation	2,455,176 items checked out in 2022[2]
Other information
Director	Karen Pundsack[1]
Employees	243 (in 2022)[2]
Website	www.griver.org

Great River Regional Library is a library system serving Benton, Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright Counties in central Minnesota. It is a consolidated library system consisting of 32 branch libraries, with a headquarters at the St. Cloud Public Library.

History[edit]

When the hotel which contained St. Cloud's reading room burned down in 1901, the community sought funding from industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to build a library.^[3] They received $25,000 from Carnegie, along with an additional $2,000 from local railroad executive James J. Hill, and the St. Cloud Public Library opened in 1902.^[4] In 1969 the library expanded services to become the Great River Regional Library system. The current St. Cloud Public Library was built in 2008.^[3]

Locations[edit]

Branch libraries are located in the following cities: Albany, Annandale, Becker, Belgrade, Big Lake, Buffalo, Clearwater, Cokato, Cold Spring, Delano, Eagle Bend, Elk River, Foley, Grey Eagle, Howard Lake, Kimball, Little Falls, Long Prairie, Melrose, Monticello, Paynesville, Pierz, Richmond, Rockford, Royalton, St. Cloud, St. Michael, Sauk Centre, Staples, Swanville, Upsala, and Waite Park.

45°33′25″N 94°10′00″W / 45.556817°N 94.166591°W / 45.556817; -94.166591^[5]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Great River Regional Library