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Athens Regional Library System
The Carnegie Library in Lavonia, Georgia
LocationNortheast Georgia
Established1940
Branches11
Collection
Size439,072 (2017)[1]
Access and use
Circulation1,215,173 (2017)[1]
Population served228,317 (2017)[1]
Members73,234 (2017)[1]
Other information
DirectorValerie Bell
Websitehttp://www.athenslibrary.org

The Athens Regional Library System (ARLS) is a consortium of 11 public libraries across all four counties of the Athens – Clarke County metropolitan area (Clarke, Madison, Oconee, and Oglethorpe) as well as Franklin County.

The ARLS is a member of the Public Information Network for Electronic Services (PINES), a statewide public library system that includes 300 member libraries covering 146 counties in Georgia. Any member of the ARLS has a PINES library card which grants them access to over 8 million books in the PINES circulation.[2] The library is also a member of the Georgia Library Learning Online (GALILEO), a resource with over 100 databases for active members to view thousands of journals and scholarly articles.[3]

History

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The first library to be built that is now part of the system is the Lavonia-Carnegie Library in Lavonia, built in 1911 with funding from Andrew Carnegie.[4]

Regional library formation

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With the advent of the Works Progress Administration the county Board of Trustees and Athens Woman's Club began organizing a regional library. The headquarters were in Athens, and thus the original name was the Athens Regional Library. This was the first regional library in the state.[5] Clarke County, Oconee County, and Oglethorpe County were all involved in this system. A bookmobile donated by the WPA was used to service the region.[5] Book loans were offered to residents of the county at the rate of two books allowed checked out per week, one being fiction and the other being non-fiction.[6]

In 1955 a man by the name of Evangelos Terzapoulos from Athens, Greece donated a Grecian urn estimated to be 2,600 years old as a token of friendship.[6]

The final two counties to join the system were Madison County in 1953, and Franklin County in 1974.[6] During the 1970s the library began to show signs of age and overcrowding was becoming an issue. A campaign was set up to raise money for a new building. This new building, located on Research Road, was dedicated in May 1976. This library was expanded again in 1987. Another expansion came in 1991 when the Bogart Library showed similar signs of overcrowding.[5] Soon after, in 1977 the Carnegie library in Lavonia underwent complete renovations as well.[4]

In 2011 the main branch in Athens-Clarke County received money to renovate their current library, adding 20,000 square feet to the already expansive 63,000 square foot building.[7]

Branches

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Name Address Website
Athens-Clarke County Library 2025 Baxter St, Athens, Georgia 30606 http://www.athenslibrary.org/athens
Bogart Library 200 South Burson Avenue, Bogart, Georgia 30622 http://www.athenslibrary.org/bogart
East Athens Community Center 400 McKinley Drive, Athens, Georgia 30601 http://www.athenslibrary.org/eastathens
Lavonia-Carnegie Library 28 Hartwell Road, Lavonia, Georgia 30553 http://www.athenslibrary.org/lavonia
Lay Park Community Center 297 Hoyt Street, Athens, Georgia 30601 http://www.athenslibrary.org/laypark
Madison County Library 1315 Highway 98 West, Danielsville, Georgia 30633 http://www.athenslibrary.org/madison
Oconee County Library 1080 Experiment Station Rd, Watkinsville, Georgia 30677 http://www.athenslibrary.org/oconee
Oglethorpe County Library 858 Athens Rd. (Hwy 78), Lexington, Georgia 30648 http://www.athenslibrary.org/oglethorpe
Pinewoods Library 1465 Hwy 29 North Lot F-12, Athens, Georgia 30628 http://www.athenslibrary.org/pinewoods
Royston Public Library 634 Franklin Springs Street, Royston, Georgia 30662 http://www.athenslibrary.org/royston
Winterville Library 115 Marigold Lane, Winterville, Georgia 30683 http://www.athenslibrary.org/winterville

Bogart

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East Athens Community Center

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Lavonia-Carnegie

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Lay Park Community Center

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Madison

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Oconee

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The earliest records for a library in the region are dated to March 11, 1810 where an active Library Society was founded by a citizen named Sterling Elder. Not much else is known of this library system save for references of the society meetings in the newspaper at the time, the Athens Gazette.[5]

A second library began in 1915 when two citizens of the county, Mary Overby and L. Campbell, donated their collection of books to the public starting the Mary Overby Library. The library at this time was located on the second floor of the Ashford Building on Main Street. The Mary Overby Library ran until 1926 when it donated its entire collection to the Oconee High School Library.[5]

The next library formed as Oconee County joined ARLS upon its creation in 1940, with its location in Booth's drug store and Carrie Hussey as head librarian. In 1972, the library moved to a room near the courthouse. On June 6, 1974, county commissioners began the project for a new permanent library. They appointed Pattie Ivy as Library Board Chairman. The county also donated land for the library while the state offered to fund half the project. Efforts to raise $60,000 for the rest of the project, started by a library committee of up to 75 members, included fundraisers as well as donations from benefactors including Kiwanis Club member and county attorney Robert Nicholson with $1000, and a grant of $5000 from the emergency funds of Jimmy Carter and George Busbee. The committee also created the annual Fall Festival with the purpose of raising money for the library. Once the committee raised $60,000, the project was fully funded and the library was constructed in 1976. Additions for the building took place in 1987 and again in 1997.[8]

Oglethorpe

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Pinewoods

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Royston

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Winterville

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The Winterville branch library is located in a cottage that was formerly used as a farm labor residence before abandonment. In 1974, the building was donated to the city of Winterville, restored, and dedicated as a library. Renovations were completed in the 1990s.[9]

Library systems in neighboring counties

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Current Look at Georgia Libraries 2017" (PDF). Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  2. ^ "PINES - About". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  3. ^ "GALILEO - About". Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  4. ^ a b "History of the Lavonia-Carnegie Library". Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e Sommer, Margaret F. (1993). The History of Oconee County, Georgia. Dallas, TX: Curtis Media. pp. 13–14. ISBN 0-88107-231-1.
  6. ^ a b c A History of Athens Library (PDF). The Georgia Librarian. 1997. pp. 19–21. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  7. ^ Shearer, Lee. "Patrons must adjust to renovation project". OnlineAthens. Athens Banner-Herald. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  8. ^ Laboon, Sherry T. (2010). Robertson, Emily (ed.). The Oconee County Georgia Fall Festival. OCLC 671248540.
  9. ^ Foley, Emma; Quinn, Mary (2014). Winterville, Georgia: A Classic Railroad Town. p. 53. ISBN 9781633180024.
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Category:County library systems in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Public libraries in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Athens – Clarke County metropolitan area Category:Buildings and structures in Franklin County, Georgia Category:Buildings and structures in Oglethorpe County, Georgia Category:Buildings and structures in Oconee County, Georgia Category:Buildings and structures in Madison County, Georgia

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