For other locations and available services, please visit our Library Hours page.
The Main Library is located at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and 6th Street.
By Freeway. Take the I-10 freeway to the Lincoln Blvd exit. Turn right onto Lincoln Blvd. and proceed .4 miles to Santa Monica Blvd where you will turn left. The Library will be one block ahead on the right.
By Bus. The Main Library is directly served by the Big Blue Bus lines 1, R10, and 18. Big Blue Bus lines 2, 3, R3, and 9 also stop within a short walking distance.
By Rail. The Metro Expo line stops within a ten minute walk to the Main Library.
Subterranean GarageThe public parking garage is open to the general public on a limited basis. The garage is generally open Monday - Thursday 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. (The Library is not open on Friday or Sunday.) The garage is closed on Sunday.
Street-level parking lotA limited number of metered one-hour parking spaces are available. Entry to the lot is from 7th Street.
Bike RacksCyclists can secure their bikes at one of several bike racks installed along the north side of the building.
Main Library - Exterior Materials Return - Exterior return slots are located at the side of the building on 6th street. This return is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and accepts books, magazines and audiovisual materials.
Main Library study rooms are available for use with a SMPL library card. Reserve study rooms online up to 24 hours in advance for one 1-hour period per day. Reservations are required and are on a first come-first served basis. There are 5 study rooms in Youth Services (1st floor) and 7 study rooms on the 2nd floor. Maximum occupancy ranges from 2 people up to 6 persons depending on the study room.
Donations
The Santa Monica Public Library welcomes donations to enrich the Library's collections and the Friends of the Library Bookstore. Donations are accepted at the Main Library. We welcome books, vinyl, CDs, and DVDs, but no galleys or screeners. If you have questions please contact us at 310-458-8600 or email us at library@santamonica.gov.
Bookstore (Friends of the Library)
The Friends’ Bookstore located at the Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd.Mondays: 12 – 3pmThursdays: 3 – 6pmSaturdays: 12 – 3pm*Hours subject to change based on volunteer availability.
The first City of Santa Monica Library dates back to 1890, when town trustees accepted a gift of 800 volumes from the reading room maintained by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Two rooms in a bank on Oregon Ave. (later Santa Monica Blvd.) were set aside for the Santa Monica Public Library. Library trustees and the City Librarian were also appointed that year.; In 1893 the library became free to the public.
The library’s first permanent home was built in 1904 at Oregon Ave. and Fifth Street (later 503 Santa Monica Blvd.), using funds provided by Andrew Carnegie. As the collection and public use outgrew the small building, a bond issue was passed and the original Grecian-style building was expanded and remodeled in 1927 by E.J. Baume into a Spanish Revival design. Notable features of this facility were the murals in the children’s room by Eulalie Banks Wilson.
Beginning in the 1950’s citizen efforts to replace the aging structure led voters to approve a bond to buy land and construct a new library at 1343 Sixth Street. The 74,000 square foot, two-story Modernist structure opened in 1965 and served the community for nearly 40 years. Community support to improve library service continued, and two bonds were passed (in 1988 and 1998) to purchase additional property on the site and to fund Main Library expansion and Branch Library improvements. The old Main Library was demolished in 2003, and library service was provided in temporary quarters at 1324 Fifth St. during the new library’s construction.
The Main Library , which opened at 601 Santa Monica Blvd. in January 2006, was designed by the internationally-acclaimed architectural firm, Moore Ruble Yudell of Santa Monica. Designed as a library for the 21st century, the two-level, 105,000 square foot facility serves as popular destination in the community with nearly a million visitors every year. The Library incorporates state-of-the-art technology, sustainable building and landscape features (earning the project a LEED Gold rating) and other amenities such as a café and the Friends of the Library Bookstore. Through a loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Stanton Macdonald-Wright Library Mural, which was transferred from the City of Santa Monica to the Smithsonian in 1966, is again on view in the new Main Library.
Additional details on the history of the Library - including historic images - can be accessed here.