St. Matthews Library
3940 Grandview Ave. Louisville, Kentucky 40207 | (502) 574-1771
Map | History | Accessibility | Upcoming Programs | Volunteer | Meeting Room Request
Hours
- Monday-Thursday 10am - 9pm
- Friday, Saturday 10am - 5pm
- Sunday 1pm - 5pm
Accessibility
Wheelchair ramp access is located at the front entrance of the building. We have two ramps one on each side of the building. The first ramp is next to Fairfax Ave. and the other is parallel to Meridian Ave. There are five accessible parking spots to the left of the entrance of the branch. St. Matthews is outfitted with Hearing Loop technology in the large meeting room.
Directions
The St. Matthews Branch is located at 3940 Grandview Ave. in the east end of the St. Matthews City Hall Bldg. This is the block between Breckinridge and Browns Lanes, 2 traffic lights south of the Breckinridge Ln. / Shelbyville Rd. corner.
From the east - Proceed down Shelbyville Rd. to Fairfax Ave. across from Trinity High School. Turn left and proceed 2 more blocks. The St. Matthews City Hall Bldg. is at the corner of Fairfax and Grandview; the library entrance faces Fairfax.
From the west - From either Lexington Rd. or Frankfort Ave., head into St. Matthews on Shelbyville Rd. Turn right onto Breckinridge Ln. Continue in a southward direction to the 2nd traffic light which is Grandview Ave. Turn left. The St. Matthews City Hall bldg. is on the righthand side of the 2nd block; the library entrance is on the east side of the bldg. facing Fairfax Ave.
From the east into Louisville on I-64 - Stay on I-64 to the Cannon's Ln. exit. Turn right at the end of the ramp and again turn right at the stoplight. Stay on Cannon's Ln. heading north for about 1 1/2 miles and turn right at the corner of Grandview.
Map
History
The St. Matthews library has been a proud member of its community for more than half a century. After being in temporary quarters over a bank along Shelbyville Rd. and later in a home on Brown Ave., the library moved to Church Way in 1958. The Eline family donated the land behind the St. Matthews Methodist Church as a memorial to Sidney Eline, Jr. who had been killed in the Second World War. The City of St. Matthews erected a modern ranch-style facility on that site and it quickly became a focal point of the neighborhood.
The brisk activity of the Sidney Eline Memorial Library prompted two expansions of the Church Way facility. In 1993 the City of St. Matthews acquired a 3-story brick building on Grandview Ave. that had formerly been the Future Federal Savings and Loan and prior to that the Greathouse Elementary School. A million-dollar remodeling project by the City of St. Matthews resulted in a unified City Hall building housing the Clerk's Office, Police Department, Beargrass-St. Matthews Historical Society and the library. Because of the generosity of Mayor Art Draut and the City Council, the library was moved into its new home on April 11, 1994.
On May 9, 2019, the City of St. Matthews re-opened a renovated and expanded St. Matthews Library at the same location. The now 19,000-square-foot facility houses more than 70,000 books and features a large meeting room with seating for 100, a small conference room, a space for teens, an outdoor children’s area, and new technology—including self-checkout stations. A new entrance with glass façade fills the space with an abundance of natural light, and services are on one level for easy access for all members of the community.
