The Birmingham Public Library is of the largest library systems in the southeastern United States. It consists of 19 branches and a main or central library located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The main library is composed of two buildings, the East Building and the Linn-Henley Research Library containing the Tutwiler Collection of Southern History, and the Rucker Agee Map Collection. History As an adjunct of Birmingham's public schools, the Birmingham Public Library was established in 1886. John H. Phillips, then superintendent of the public school system, set up a library in a room not much bigger than a closet. In 1913, a public library board was established, and the City of Birmingham assumed responsibility for funding the growing institution. In 1918, a branch specifically for the use of African-American residents opened, named after Booker T. Washington. The Booker T. Washington branch was headed by Mattie Herd Roland, and was the first African-American librarian in Alabama. The library was later moved to City Hall, where the collection burned in a fire in 1925. An impressive Neo-classical building of Indiana limestone was completed in 1927, serving as the central facility of the Birmingham Public Library for 57 years. The city's library system was desegregated in April 1963, in part because of a lawsuit filed by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights on behalf of Joe and Lola Hendricks. To accommodate the growing collection and demand for services, an additional structure containing of floor space was completed in 1984 and connected to the original building via a crosswalk. This building houses most of the Central Library's circulating and general reference collections, plus the technical services for the library system. The original 1927 building was renovated in 1985 and renamed the Linn-Henley Research Library. This facility houses the library's special collections, and government publications. Together, these two buildings comprise the Central Library of the Birmingham Public Library system. In addition to the Central Library, the Birmingham Public Library system includes 17 branches located elsewhere in the city. This branch system was begun when the Birmingham library began to integrate libraries from independent communities that gradually became incorporated into Birmingham. In the 1980s, the library board had adopted plans to build regional libraries that would serve large sections of the city, would have larger collections and facilities, and would be opened more hours. Annual circulation of roughly 1.7 million checkouts is matched by an