When you are staying downtown for a few weeks rather than a few nights, the studio stops being the only room you need. You want somewhere to work that is not the desk you slept next to. Somewhere warm at 4 p.m. in November. Somewhere with a chair, a table, and no purchase required.
That place is a short walk north of us, and most visitors never think to go in. Minneapolis Central Library is one of the best free rooms in the city, and you do not need to live here to sit down in it.
Where it is, and when it is open
Minneapolis Central Library is at 300 Nicollet Mall — a straight walk up Nicollet from Oakland’s on 9th at 215 South 9th Street. Current hours are Monday through Thursday 9 to 8, Friday 9 to 5, Saturday 9 to 5, and Sunday noon to 5. Check the library’s own page before you go; hours move around holidays.
You do not need a card to walk in
This is the part people get wrong. A library card is for borrowing. The building itself is a public building: you can walk in, find a table, read, work, use the restrooms, and go to free events without ever showing anything to anyone. For a travel nurse on nights, a consultant on a six-week project, or somebody who has just moved to the city and does not know a soul yet, that is a genuinely useful fact.
What is actually in there
More than you would guess from the outside. Central holds the largest collection of items in the Hennepin County Library system, and the building is organised around a set of named rooms and collections rather than just stacks:
- Meeting rooms, and a self-guided tour of the building if you want to know what you are looking at
- The Cargill Gallery, which shows art at the library
- Special Collections, including Children’s Special Collections and a zine collection
- A Piano Room and a Vinyl Revival Listening Room — yes, really
- Teen Central and the Best Buy Teen Tech Center
- Language collections, assistive technology, and a Patent and Trademark Resource Center
The Patent and Trademark Resource Center is the sleeper on that list. There are only a few dozen of them in the country, and Minneapolis has one — which is fitting for a city whose fortune was built on milling machinery.
Can a temporary resident get a card?
Possibly. Hennepin County Library sorts applicants into three groups: Hennepin County residents and property owners, Minnesota residents living outside Hennepin County, and nonresident fee cards for everyone else. The terms for each are laid out on the library’s library cards page, and they are the authority — not us. If you are here on a contract with a Minnesota address, it is worth asking at the desk rather than assuming you do not qualify.
A library almost exactly as old as this building
Minneapolis Public Library was founded in 1885 and opened the city’s first public library building at 10th Street and Hennepin Avenue in 1889 — the same year the brownstone you are standing in went up on 9th Street. The library outgrew that building, moved into a larger and more modern one in 1961, and moved again into the current building, which opened in 2006. Ours simply stayed put and got restored instead. If that kind of thing interests you, the Mill City Museum tells the rest of the story a few blocks toward the river.
Getting there — and getting there in January
In good weather it is a pleasant walk straight up Nicollet Mall. In February you will want the skyway, and here is the honest version: Oakland’s on 9th is not skyway-connected. You walk a block to reach an entrance, and from there you can cover a great deal of downtown without going back outside. If you would rather ride, Metro Transit’s trip planner will sort it out, and buses run the Mall constantly.
Two more things worth knowing while you are settling in: our studios all have a desk of their own — the Better and Best tiers give you real work space, and the Best studio has a bay window that beats any table in any library — and there is plenty else within walking distance when you want to get out.
Staying a night, a week, or a month? Every studio is furnished, with a full kitchen, all utilities, WiFi and free on-site laundry included, and there are no contracts. Details are on our FAQ and parking pages. Check availability, or call us at (612) 314-5124 and we will talk it through.
Keep reading: How Do You Get from MSP Airport to Downtown Minneapolis Without a Car?