diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/parquet/CMakeLists.txt
index 8a9b8603f9ae4..a2ebbad0f9287 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 
 # Headers: top level
 install(FILES
-  parquet.h
   exception.h
   types.h
   DESTINATION include/parquet)
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/api/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/parquet/api/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..89151f0fda5f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/api/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+# Headers: public api
+install(FILES
+  io.h
+  reader.h
+  schema.h
+  DESTINATION include/parquet/api)
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/util/dict-encoding.h b/cpp/src/parquet/api/io.h
similarity index 65%
rename from cpp/src/parquet/util/dict-encoding.h
rename to cpp/src/parquet/api/io.h
index 315b88ee91ea6..a8e555de5b6b6 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/util/dict-encoding.h
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/api/io.h
@@ -15,22 +15,12 @@
 // specific language governing permissions and limitations
 // under the License.
 
-#ifndef PARQUET_UTIL_DICT_ENCODING_H
-#define PARQUET_UTIL_DICT_ENCODING_H
+#ifndef PARQUET_API_IO_H
+#define PARQUET_API_IO_H
 
-#include <algorithm>
-#include <cstdint>
-#include <limits>
-#include <vector>
+#include "parquet/exception.h"
+#include "parquet/util/buffer.h"
+#include "parquet/util/input.h"
+#include "parquet/util/output.h"
 
-#include "parquet/types.h"
-#include "parquet/encodings/plain-encoding.h"
-#include "parquet/util/hash-util.h"
-#include "parquet/util/mem-pool.h"
-#include "parquet/util/rle-encoding.h"
-
-namespace parquet_cpp {
-
-} // namespace parquet_cpp
-
-#endif // PARQUET_UTIL_DICT_ENCODING_H
+#endif // PARQUET_API_IO_H
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/parquet.h b/cpp/src/parquet/api/reader.h
similarity index 70%
rename from cpp/src/parquet/parquet.h
rename to cpp/src/parquet/api/reader.h
index ea8ab5ee0f51e..41cb06b3af967 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/parquet.h
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/api/reader.h
@@ -15,32 +15,18 @@
 // specific language governing permissions and limitations
 // under the License.
 
-#ifndef PARQUET_PARQUET_H
-#define PARQUET_PARQUET_H
-
-#include <exception>
-#include <cstdint>
-#include <cstring>
-#include <memory>
-#include <string>
-#include <unordered_map>
-#include <vector>
-
-#include "parquet/exception.h"
+#ifndef PARQUET_API_READER_H
+#define PARQUET_API_READER_H
 
 // Column reader API
 #include "parquet/column/reader.h"
-
-// File API
+#include "parquet/exception.h"
 #include "parquet/file/reader.h"
 
 // Schemas
-#include "parquet/schema/descriptor.h"
-#include "parquet/schema/printer.h"
-#include "parquet/schema/types.h"
+#include "parquet/api/schema.h"
 
 // IO
-#include "parquet/util/input.h"
-#include "parquet/util/output.h"
+#include "parquet/api/io.h"
 
-#endif
+#endif // PARQUET_API_READER_H
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/api/schema.h b/cpp/src/parquet/api/schema.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..aca6c99a5004d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/api/schema.h
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+#ifndef PARQUET_API_SCHEMA_H
+#define PARQUET_API_SCHEMA_H
+
+// Schemas
+#include "parquet/schema/descriptor.h"
+#include "parquet/schema/printer.h"
+#include "parquet/schema/types.h"
+
+#endif // PARQUET_API_SCHEMA_H
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/encodings/dictionary-encoding.h b/cpp/src/parquet/encodings/dictionary-encoding.h
index 93780a13830c1..43669b73e7685 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/encodings/dictionary-encoding.h
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/encodings/dictionary-encoding.h
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 #include "parquet/encodings/encoder.h"
 #include "parquet/encodings/plain-encoding.h"
 #include "parquet/util/cpu-info.h"
-#include "parquet/util/dict-encoding.h"
 #include "parquet/util/hash-util.h"
 #include "parquet/util/mem-pool.h"
 #include "parquet/util/rle-encoding.h"
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/encodings/encoding-test.cc b/cpp/src/parquet/encodings/encoding-test.cc
index e74f4ff6b580b..490047c1d7d85 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/encodings/encoding-test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/encodings/encoding-test.cc
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 #include "parquet/schema/types.h"
 #include "parquet/util/bit-util.h"
 #include "parquet/util/buffer.h"
-#include "parquet/util/dict-encoding.h"
 #include "parquet/util/output.h"
 #include "parquet/util/test-common.h"
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/public-api-test.cc b/cpp/src/parquet/public-api-test.cc
index 41037146a857d..951c13ed8ecd1 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/public-api-test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/public-api-test.cc
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@
 // under the License.
 
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
-#include "parquet/parquet.h"
+
+#include "parquet/api/io.h"
+#include "parquet/api/reader.h"
+#include "parquet/api/schema.h"
 
 namespace parquet_cpp {
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/parquet/util/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/src/parquet/util/CMakeLists.txt
index c8d2c2fa3d2be..5cb7b2fa83f5c 100644
--- a/cpp/src/parquet/util/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/src/parquet/util/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ install(FILES
   bit-stream-utils.h
   bit-stream-utils.inline.h
   bit-util.h
+  buffer.h
   buffer-builder.h
   compiler-util.h
   cpu-info.h
-  dict-encoding.h
   hash-util.h
   input.h
   logging.h
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ install(FILES
   output.h
   rle-encoding.h
   stopwatch.h
-  sse-info.h
+  sse-util.h
   DESTINATION include/parquet/util)
 
 add_library(parquet_util STATIC