North Regional Library, Public library in Near North, US.

North Regional Library is a public library in the Near North area that houses books, digital materials, and community spaces in a modern two-story building. The facility includes computers, WiFi, printing services, and multiple meeting rooms for groups of different sizes.

Minneapolis Public Library's first standalone branch, North Branch, served the north side from 1893 until 1977. In 1964 the Library Board chose the block on Lowry Avenue between Fremont and Girard, and Miller Dunwiddie drew the plans; 25,000 leaflets announced the October 24, 1971 opening. Director Ervin J. Gaines envisioned a citywide system of regional libraries, but only a south regional was planned and no others were built.

The Emerson Room upstairs holds meetings and honours a New England book collection that J. Harold Kittleson donated, once shelved in a room fitted out like a 19th-century New England interior. Hmong-speaking staff are on hand three days a week, and HIRED and CPED advisers help job seekers. Children enter their area past a big blue throne.

The children's and teen areas occupy the east side of the building, with low shelving and open space so adults can keep watch. Public meeting rooms, including the Emerson Room, are upstairs, and an outdoor reading area with seating and a children's garden sits outside. Hmong-speaking staff are on hand three days a week.

The 2007 renovation was shaped by over a year of meetings with a neighbourhood advisory committee, which weighed details such as shelving height and interior lighting. Neighbourhood groups from Cleveland, Jordan and McKinley contributed $32,500 to the $4,567,083 project. The 2020-2021 work cost $9 million and added four small upstairs study rooms.