The Full Form of TCPL is Tompkins County Public Library.

Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) is the public library for residents of Tompkins County, New York. The library has one branch which is located in Ithaca, New York.

Ithaca’s first public library was founded by Ezra Cornell as the Cornell Free Library and chartered by the New York State Legislature in 1864. Circulation began on March 4, 1867. It stood at the southeast corner of Seneca and Tioga streets from 1864 to 1960. Early classes and commencement of Cornell University took place in the library.

In 1967 the library was re-designated as the county’s library when the county paid for the construction of a new $1.7 million building. This new building opened at 312 North Cayuga Street in February 1969.By the 1990s, the library had outgrown the space at North Cayuga Street. In November 2000, the library moved to a renovated former Woolworths department store, which was double the size of the old building. This current building is located at the corner of Cayuga and Green Street (New York Route 79) just south of the Ithaca Commons. In November 2010 the library celebrated ten years in the current building. The Library began celebration for its Sesquicentennial in 2014. As part of that celebration, a mural of founder Ezra Cornell was hung on the exterior wall of the library building in October 2016.