Calgary Public Library - Central

An architectural landmark and destination in Calgary. It’s the place for locals and visitors alike to gather, learn, read, socialize, and connect. There’s something for everyone inside this stunning 240,000 square foot building, including a Performance Hall, Children’s Library, Teen Space, audio and video recording studios, public computers and Chromebook rentals, public art, and a collection of more than 300,000 items. The Central Library is located in East Village by Calgary’s municipal city hall. Declared one of the world's 12 most anticipated buildings of 2018 by Architectural Digest, the Central Library is a landmark structure inside and out — designed to be the leading Library of the next century. Families flock to the 12,000 square foot Children’s Library, while the TD Great Room is an iconic place for quiet study, contemplation, and reflection. There’s always something going on at the new Central Library; listen to an author reading or speaker series in the Performance Hall, take in live music in the outdoor Amphitheatre, watch the artist in residence create, attend a Family Storytime program, or join a guided architectural tour and find out how this engineering marvel was constructed over an existing CTrain (LRT) line. Enter the Library through an outdoor archway, framed with western red wood cedar and inspired by the chinook arch cloud formations common to Calgary’s skies. Inside, a welcome wall mural greets visitors, a tremendous collaboration by three Indigenous artists — just one of many pieces of Indigenous Placemaking in the building. Learn more about the history and development of the city with the Calgary’s Story collection on Level 4, then head to the Prow for the best views in the building.