The Library's mission is to provide the people of Louisville and Jefferson County with the broadest possible access to knowledge, ideas, and information, and to support them in their pursuit of learning.

This is one of the system's most heavily used libraries and is in St. Matthews City Hall.

The St. Matthews library has been a proud member of its community for over forty years. 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 Futural 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.

The present library is entirely accessible and provides circulation, reference, and children's areas on the first floor as well as a story room and 50 seat meeting room on the second floor. Multiple internet points, networked databases and online periodical indexes enable patrons to perform extensive reference work. The reference staff likewise takes advantage of numerous reader's advisory tools to assist patrons in their quest for "just the right book." Two Apple Macs bring many hours of enjoyable learning to youngsters.

Both juvenile and adult programming are on-going parts of the weekly routine at the library. Story hours and special events entertain the younger clientele and community speakers join with the library reference staff to provide an array of informative presentations for adults.

There are no fees charged for meeting room use.