To read about the history of the Oakland Public Library system, click here.

The first Main Library (1878-1902) was situated on the north side of 14th Street, facing Washington, on the site of the present City Hall. The second Main Library (1902-1951) still stands at 14th Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and is now the home of the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO). Crowded conditions at the second Main Library prompted a bond measure to provide funds for a new library in 1933. The measure, voted upon on December 19, 1933, failed to pass.

The present Main Library was funded by a library bond measure passed by the voters on May 8, 1945. The bond measure also provided financing for the construction of two replacement branches, Lakeview and Elmhurst, which opened in 1949. (Even in the very beginning, we had off-site "Reading Rooms", which eventually became as many as 22 branches.) A site for the new Main Library at 14th and 13th Streets, Oak and Madison, was purchased in 1948 for $385,000. The architects selected for the structure were Chester H. Miller and Carl I. Warneke, Oakland architects who also designed the Hill Castle Apartments, the original Castlemont High School, and the Women’s City Club (now known as the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts). The cost of the building was $1,375,000.

Construction began in November 1948, and the cornerstone was laid on May 7, 1949. Dedication ceremonies were held on January 7, 1951. Present were Library Director Peter Thomas Conmy (1943-1969), Mayor Clifford Rishell, Joseph Knowland, publisher and editor of the Oakland Tribune, and Governor Earl Warren. Governor Warren noted in his speech that "As one who has worked across the street in the Court House, as one who has lived here and raised children here, I share great joy with you in helping to open these doors of learning."

The new building provided three times the square footage of the old Main Library. The style of the building has been characterized as "Public Works Administration Moderne," a simple, streamlined style favored in public buildings during and after World War II. Read a letter talking about the principles of library service for which this building was constructed.

In 1978, a mural, "Gateway to Knowledge," was painted on the front of the building by artist Ed Cassel. In 2000, the Library installed a new wheelchair accessible ramp permitting access to its front doors.