Athens Regional Library System

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

Athens Regional Library System
The Carnegie Library in Lavonia, Georgia
Established1940
LocationNortheast Georgia
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
Map

The ARLS is a member of PINES, a statewide public library that includes 300 member libraries covering 146 counties in Georgia. Any member of the ARLS will receive 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) which is a resource with over 100 databases for active members to view thousands of journals and scholarly articles.[3]

History

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.[4]

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.[5]

A second library began in 1915 when two citizens of the county, Mary Oberby 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.[4]

Regional library formation

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.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4] Soon after, in 1977 the Carnegie library in Lavonia underwent complete renovations as well.[5]

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
NameAddressWebsite
Athens-Clarke County Library2025 Baxter St, Athens, GA 30606http://www.athenslibrary.org/athens
Bogart Library200 South Burson Avenue, Bogart, GA 30622http://www.athenslibrary.org/bogart
East Athens Community Center400 McKinley Drive, Athens, GA 30601http://www.athenslibrary.org/eastathens
Lavonia-Carnegie Library28 Hartwell Road, Lavonia, Georgia 30553http://www.athenslibrary.org/lavonia
Lay Park Community Center297 Hoyt Street, Athens, Georgia 30601http://www.athenslibrary.org/laypark
Madison County Library1315 Highway 98 West, Danielsville, Georgia 30633http://www.athenslibrary.org/madison
Oconee County Library1080 Experiment Station Rd, Watkinsville, Georgia 30677http://www.athenslibrary.org/oconee
Oglethorpe County Library858 Athens Rd. (Hwy 78), Lexington, Georgia 30648http://www.athenslibrary.org/oglethorpe
Pinewoods Library1465 Hwy 29 North Lot F-12, Athens, Georgia 30628http://www.athenslibrary.org/pinewoods
Royston Public Library634 Franklin Springs Street, Royston, Georgia 30662http://www.athenslibrary.org/royston
Winterville Library115 Marigold Lane, Winterville, Georgia 30683http://www.athenslibrary.org/winterville

Library systems in neighboring counties
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gollark: Perhaps the markov chain implementation can be improved. On the other hand, heavpoot wrote it.

References
  1. "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. Sommer, Margaret F. (1993). The History of Oconee County, Georgia. Dallas, TX: Curtis Media. pp. 13–14. ISBN 0-88107-231-1.
  5. "History of the Lavonia-Carnegie Library". Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  6. 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.
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