City of Ryde Libraries

Ryde’s first municipal library opened on 4 December 1946 in a shopfront on Blaxland Road, staffed by three people and offering a collection of 3,000 books. This made Ryde the fourth council in metropolitan Sydney to establish a library service after adopting the NSW Library Act. The central library relocated to Devlin Street in 1949 and later moved to the Ryde Civic Centre in 1970.

As the community expanded, several branch libraries were opened to meet growing demand: North Ryde in 1952, Gladesville in 1956, Eastwood in 1959, and West Ryde in 1975.

Today, the City of Ryde Libraries operates from five branch locations:

• Ryde Library (1 Pope Street)

• West Ryde Library (2 Graf Avenue)

• North Ryde Library (201 Coxs Road)

• Gladesville Library (6 Pittwater Road)

• Eastwood Library (corner of Hillview Road & West Parade)

The library service has undergone several name changes over the years. In the early 1990s, it was rebranded as Ryde Library and Information Services. In 2002, the name was simplified to Ryde Library Services. Today, it is known as City of Ryde Libraries.