1324 Jefferson Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14208 Map
716-883-4418

Completed in 2006, this impressive, 20,000 square foot facility is located at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Utica Street . The Library is Wheelchair accessible and has 35 parking spaces. Black and white copies are available at 15 cents each. There is a Radio Receiver for the visually impaired.

Public Access Computers: 47 computers, networked (printing 10 cents B&W per page) Microsoft Office Applications, Internet Access, Misc. "What can I do at a Public Access Computer?" The location features a state-of-the-art, technology training lab with 12 computers.

The building features a 150-seat auditorium. Use of the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Branch Library Auditorium is intended for activities conducted or sponsored by the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library and secondarily, for organizations engaged in educational, cultural, intellectual or charitable activities of interest and/or benefit to the community.

PLEASE NOTE: Formal application for the use of the auditorium is made with library management. An individual repsonsible for the meeting must complete and sign an application form and return it to the library for review and approval. Applications should be filed with the Frank E. Merriweather Branch not less than 4 weeks in advance of the event. Action on any application will require two (2) weeks for evaluation. Applicants will be notified of confirmation or rejection by mail.
Auditorium Application (PDF)
Auditorium Rules (PDF)

What's Special About the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Library

Uncrowned Queens Affiliate

The Merriweather Library became the First-in-the-Nation Uncrowned Queens Institute Affiliate on Saturday, October 4, 2008. The library will soon be home to an Uncrowned Community Builders Technology site which will allow individuals to send biographies, photos and audio messages directly to the Uncrowned Queens webpage. To learn more, visit http://wings.buffalo.edu/uncrownedqueens/C/index.html

DESIGN
Architect Robert Traynham Coles' striking circular design, with its interconnected interior spaces, is intended to suggest an African Village . The library features an African American Resource Room, adult and youth reading rooms, a technology training lab, auditorium, parking lot and an African motif in the block facade. The building replaces the nearly 80-year-old North Jefferson Branch Library and has been renamed after Frank E. Merriweather, Jr., editor and publisher of The Criterion newspaper, the oldest minority newspaper in upstate New York.

William A. Miles Center for African and African-American Studies
William A. Miles Center for African and African-American Studies, the largest resource center in Western New York for information on African American history. This unique and outstanding collection was established in 1965 by now-retired B&ECPL Assistant Deputy Director William A. Miles, and in 1975, the Afro-American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier began to incorporate microfilms of primary source material on the history of African Americans in the Western New York area.

In addition to the numerous books, microfilm and flat pictures, the collection has several specialized databases and has now acquired a new resource that makes Black Studies research more convenient and robust.  The microfiche Schomburg Clipping File contains more than 9,000 records that preserve and document important accomplishments in the African American experience.

The Schomburg Clipping File mirrors the black experience, not only in North America, but worldwide. Essentially a periodical and newspaper clipping file, this unique collection also includes typescripts, broadsides, pamphlets, programs, book reviews, menus and various other short publications dealing with black history and culture. An important source for research into all aspects of black activities and accomplishments, the file brings together a huge diversity of material organized by subject and totaling almost a million pages not duplicated elsewhere.

The collection is international in scope including countries in Africa and others not normally associated with black culture such as Italy, Russia and Japan. Easy to use and suitable both for ready reference queries or in-depth research, the Schomburg Clipping File is a valuable and unusual research tool for the study of the African American experience.

Additional Resource
The Afro American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier works to preserve historical sources that pertain to Afro-Americans in Western New York and to promote research and scholarship that has to do with the life and history of Afro-Americans in New York State. Visit their website at http://www.aahanf.org/

Opening Doors
Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons Opening Doors celebrates the contributions of African American academic surgeons to medicine and medical education. It tells the stories of four pioneering African American surgeons and educators who exemplify excellence in their fields and believe in continuing the journey of excellence through the education and mentoring of younger physicians and surgeons. Read More.

Learn more about the dedication and renaming of this center...

THANK YOU
The Library extends a special thank-you to The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation for its generous support of this project. A $250,000 grant awarded by The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation in 2002 has provided furnishings and equipment for the African American Resource Room and technology training lab, as well as the original artwork from Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folk Tales, which is on display in the new library.

The Library also acknowledges donations from the Afro-American Police Association (A.A.P.A), the Black Firefighters' Association, Members of Color Helping All (M.O.C.H.A), and, of course, the continuing contributions of the Friends of the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Library

Planned in conjunction with Darwin: The Origin of Influence exhibit at the Central Library. November 9, 2009 - February 12, 2010 Young Explorers (ages 3-5) Fridays at 4:00 PM Registration is required ... Please call the library! Under the Sea! February 5th • Splendid Shark Come and feel science. We will take a close-up look at shark teeth and the jaw of a shark. Learn about the foods that sharks eat and the world that they live in. Each child will be able to create a 3-D shark to take home. February 12th • A Whale of a Good Time What do whales eat? How many different types of whales are there? Why are whales so big? See how tall are you compared to an Orca Whale! Join us as we answer all of these questions and more. February 19th • The Outstanding Octopus How does an octopus swim? What does it eat? Join us as we explore the outstanding octopus. Come and feel a model octopus tentacle. Make your own octopus to take home. February 26th • Captivating Crustacean What is a Crustacean? Where do they live? What do they eat? We will answer all of these questions and more. Come take a look at some live crustaceans and decide what they all have in common.   Young Scientists (Ages 6-10) Thursdays at 6:00 PM Registration is required ... Please call the library! What a Wonderful Body! February 4th • The Five Senses - Part I: Hearing and Seeing How do you understand the world around you? You use your five senses! During this session, we will exercise our eyes and our ears as we look around our environment. We'll also explore different types of communication. February 11th • The Five Senses - Part II: Taste, Smell and Touch Have you ever wondered why you don't see certain animals in the winter? Some animals, like bears and frogs, can sleep all winter long. Come to learn how and why animals sleep through the winter. February 18th • A Healthy Body What makes a happy body? In this lesson, we will discuss ways we can keep our body happy and healthy including good nutrition, exercise, and good hygiene! February 25th • Genetics & You How does your body end up looking the way it does? Learn what your parents have to do with what you look like and find out what happens as you get older!

The next scheduled holiday for this location is Monday, February 15, 2010 (Presidents' Day).

*Summer hours run from Memorial Day Weekend UNTIL Labor Day.