Governance of the Louisville Free Public Library

The Louisville Free Public Library is an agency of the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government. Library buildings and other assets are owned by the Louisville Metro Government and library staff members are Metro Government employees. The library’s director is an appointee of the Louisville mayor. The legal status of the library is established in Section 32.370 of the Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances Ordinance 32.370 (.pdf) and in Section 173.105 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes KRS 173.105 (.pdf).

Mission

The Mission of the Louisville Free Public Library is to provide the people of Louisville Metro with the broadest possible access to knowledge, ideas and information, and to support them in their pursuit of learning.

LFPL's Equity Efforts

View the Louisville Free Public Library's Equity Impact Statement.

View the Louisville Free Public Library's 2023 Equity Audit

The Role of the Library Advisory Commission

The Louisville Free Public Library Advisory Commission is a nine-member body of citizens appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the Metro Council to represent the people of Louisville in the affairs of their public library. The Commissioners advise elected officials and the library director on the direction of the library and on its operations. By Louisville Metro ordinance, the Commission holds sole authority for the contents of the Library’s collection and for the use of donated funds. The mayor may delegate additional responsibilities to the Commission; in recent years the Commission has led the Library’s efforts at long-range planning, evaluated services and facilities, and conducted an annual evaluation of the library director’s performance.

View the Historical Meeting Minutes of the Library Advisory Commision

Keith Runyon, Chair	Nathan Smith
Florence Chang	Tiffany Stith
Charity Garnett	Allison Strickland
Anita Hall	Marcus Walker
Carla Robinson

Finance Committee: Florence Chang (Chair)

Planning Committee: Nathan Smith (Chair), Carla Robinson

Open Records Policy

The Lousiville Free Public Library is a department of the Louisville Metro Government and covered by Metro's Open Records Policy.

See the Louisville Metro Government Open Records Policy.

Robin Berry - Director of Records Compliance, OMB
611 West Jefferson
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 574-8773 Main Line
(502) 588-3121 Fax Line

Submit an Open Records Request Now

Supporting Organizations

A number of voluntary citizen groups support the library through private fundraising, volunteer activities and advocacy. These groups include the Louisville Free Public Library Foundation, the Friends of the Louisville Free Public Library, and 17 support groups affiliated with individual branch libraries.

Federal Depository Library Program

The Louisville Free Public Library participates digitally and physically in the Federal Depository Library Program. The public can visit any Louisville Free Public Library branch and use a computer free of charge to access Government Documents online.