Transit Routes

Direct route to the library:

#4 Glasgow - Margaret

Routes with stops near the library:

#1 Queen - River

#7 King

#8 Weber

#20 Victoria - Frederick

#204 iXpress

#301 ION Light Rail

Parking Options

Civic District Parking Garage: Attached to the library, the Civic District Parking Garage offers hourly paid parking from 6 am to 10 pm. Parking Rates - Civic District Parking Garage

Surface Parking Lot: Pay & Display parking is available 8 am to 6 pm in the surface lot located at the corner of Queen St N and Ahrens St E. Parking Rates - Lot 19B

Additional Options: Metered parking is available on Ahrens St and Roy St. A limited number of free 1 hour and 2 hour parking spaces can be found along other nearby streets.

Parking garages and surface lots are owned and operated by the City of Kitchener. For more information, visit the city's Parking Information page.

Hacienda Coffee

Located in the Central Library reading lounge, the Hacienda cafe serves hot and cold beverages, as well as a selection of cookies, muffins and other treats.

The Hacienda cafe is open Monday to Saturday, from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm.

About the Library

Central Library is the largest library in Kitchener and functions as the administrative headquarters for the four Community Library locations in the Kitchener Public Library system.

Besides functioning as the community library for our downtown customers, Central Library houses a diverse collection of over 250,000 materials and circulates over 800,000 items annually. The library also has numerous specialized collections and services which are impossible or too costly to duplicate at our community libraries located elsewhere in the city.

Originally built in 1962, Central library saw the completion of a major renovation and expansion project in 2014. The innovative construction project received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the Canada Green Building Council. The LEED certification process is an independent verification system that grades building and renovation projects on sustainable practises, including energy efficiency, water savings, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

In 2015, the Central Library Renovation and Expansion project was the recipient of the prestigious OLA Library Building Award for “Library Architectural and Design Transformation.”

Questions?

Do you have a comment, question or suggestion about the Central Library? Contact us at 519-743-0271 or email askkpl@kpl.org.