The bill passed the Indiana General Assembly, allowing school boards to levy taxes to establish and maintain public libraries.

[6] Later, as the need for more space grew, the library moved to the Sentinel Building on Monument Circle (1876–1880) and the Alvord House at Pennsylvania and Ohio streets (1880–1893).

Before her resignation, Browning initiated work on a new Central Library located partially on land donated by Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley in 1911.

[7] Following the Great Recession and a successful state ballot measure to cap property taxes in 2008, the Indianapolis Public Library faced a budget shortfall of $4 million in 2010.

[14][15][16] During Nytes' leadership in 2014, the library board received approval from the Indianapolis City-County Council to issue $58.5 million in bonds to renovate and relocate existing branches and construct new ones during the following decade.

[19] In 2021, the Indianapolis Public Library terminated its late fee policy, waiving fines for more than 87,000 accounts for overdue items.

[26] In 2023, the most checked-out item in the IPL system was electronic copies of The New Yorker magazine, which were borrowed 6,800 times; the most popular e-book was Spare.

[29] Located in downtown Indianapolis, the Central Library building was designed by architect Paul Philippe Cret (with Zantzinger, Borie and Medary).

Central Library has undergone many renovations and expansions throughout its history; the largest and most recent project was completed by Woollen, Molzan and Partners in 2007.

[5] Central Library's sixth floor includes the Indianapolis Special Collections Room, named for newspaper executive Nina Mason Pulliam.

The collection contains a variety of archival adult and children's materials, both fiction and nonfiction books by local authors, photographs, scrapbooks, typescripts, manuscripts, autographed editions, letters, newspapers, magazines, and realia.

The collection features Kurt Vonnegut, May Wright Sewall, the Woollen family, James Whitcomb Riley, and Booth Tarkington.

[31] The 3,800-square-foot (350 m2) Center for Black Literature & Culture opened at Central Library in 2017, provided by $1.3 million in grant funding from the Lilly Endowment.

The center's window banners pay tribute to local Black figures, including former Indiana Fever basketball player, Tamika Catchings, poet and playwright, Mari Evans, and Congresswoman Julia Carson.