Located near Merriweather Post Pavilion and The Mall in Columbia, the Central Library is strategically positioned to serve the entire county. Open since January 1981, Central houses the largest and most diverse collection, with extensive business resources, in-depth job and career titles and many electronic resources. Central is staffed with specialists who are trained to work with its unique and sophisticated resources. Central is the home of the Library's Project Literacy. Materials and services are available for all ages at this hub of the Library system.

Central has 80 computers available to the public. All computers have word processing capabilities. In addition, there are two games computers in the children's department and two in the young adult area. These four do not have Internet access.