A big building full of books will never lose its magnetic appeal for me, and I love exploring public libraries in other cities. I was hoping to meet up with at least a few blog readers while visiting Austin, but only managed to connect with one, a wonderfully smart, witty, and sweet woman named Katherine. When she suggested meeting up at the library, I was thrilled! See the gallery below for photos and some details about Austin’s incredible central public library.

Central Public Library – Austin, TX
Austin Central Public Library
710 W. Cesar Chavez St.
Austin, TX 78701
512-974-7400
website
- Austin Central Public Library
We drove past the central library several times during our trip before I knew it was the library, and each time I was struck by the modern and eye-catching design.
- Austin Central Public Library
Loved this fun sign near the front entrance! For the record, the building does have a small parking garage that is available to library patrons, but it has very limited space and the sign that lets you know if it has open spaces is less than accurate. It’s worth a shot in case you get lucky, but if you’re driving there, I would just expect to look for street parking.
- Austin Central Public Library
The interior design is even more striking than the exterior. I was in awe of the expansive, airy feel. Caroline clearly found it quite relaxing.
- Austin Central Public Library
That is until we reached this fun room in the children’s department where she made instant friends with other kids and played and played and played!
- Austin Central Public Library
Another view of the children’s department. Caroline was way too wound up to read while we were there though. I did appreciate the friendly librarians that approached us about summer reading activities and other things going on at the library. In retrospect, I really wished we had visited on the first day we were there so we knew what was available and could have participated in some of it. Live and learn.
- Austin Central Public Library
Okay, so this porch for the children’s department is insanely cool! I think if I lived nearby, I might come there every single day. It is beautiful, colorful, and well childproofed.
- Austin Central Public Library
One incredible porch just wasn’t quite enough for this library, so they added another one on the upper level. I would love to set up camp there to read, work, knit, or all of the above. Seriously amazing!
- Austin Central Public Library
This was the view from the edge of the upper level porch. I seriously could have stayed up there all day. What a dream.