Main Library - Dade County

The Main Library in downtown Miami shares its home in the Miami-Dade Cultural Center with the Historical Museum of Southern Florida and the Miami Art Museum. The buildings are grouped around a central plaza where people sit, eat, read and participate in ongoing activities for all ages.

The Main Library has a number of special departments that contain extensive collections in their subject areas. The Florida Department has information on the Sunshine State, with special emphasis on the South Florida region. In addition to rare books and documents, the Florida Department houses the Gleason Waite Romer collection of 17,500 photographic negatives and prints recording Miami’s history from pioneer days through 1950. Other departments includes Social Sciences, Humanities and Young Adults; Fine Arts; Business and Science; Foreign Languages; Genealogy; and Urban Affairs.

The museum complex, including the Main Library, were designed by American architect Phillip Johnson in a Mediterranean Revival Style.