The building itself is beautiful, but I really visited to check out the attached café (which you can enter from the street too). I got a pecan old fashioned and scone. Where else can you get a good drink to go with a good book?

I love visiting libraries in other cities and Austin Central Library is a really cool place with 8 floors along with a rooftop deck. The floating staircases are an architectural draw. Each floor has different sections with tables and chairs. There are plentiful, places to read. here. There are some fun things to check out at the ACL and we walked around.My first business was to get a library card. I was able to fill out the application on one of the computers in the lobby. Well, it turns out that if you are not a resident of Austin, you can't get a free library card unless you pay $120 per year (non-resident fee). Since I am not a resident of Texas, I declined to pay the fee. I'll stick with the libraries in California, thank you. Anyway, we were turned onto this library as it was a few blocks away from our hotel. We visited on a cloudy, misty day, so not too many people were out on the rooftop, but a lot were in the library.

Disapppintedly the art gallery was between visits, but overall a nice stop. Parking was free if stay under an hour. Clean bathrooms on each floor. The gift shop has cute Austin items. Finally the best part is on the too floor and open air patio with great views of Lady Bird Lake. You can also walk the lake path to Terry Black's BBQ saving yourself the hassle of trying to park there.

We came inside so our daughter could nap in the stroller. We didnt know the top floor had a roof top garden with a wonderful view of Austin.If you are visiting the area it’s a great place to cool down and see Austin from above. Plus the gift shop also has many cute things!

Beautiful building and roof top lookout garden. Would love to just bring a book and enjoy the ambiance. Noticed young people with their laptops.