Sara Hightower Regional Library System

The Sara Hightower Regional Library System (SHRLS) is a system of 4 public libraries in the Northwest Georgia region serving Polk County and Floyd County. The headquarters of the library system is located in Rome, Georgia at the Rome-Floyd County Library.

Sara Hightower Regional Library System
The Hawkes Children's Library
Established1974
LocationNorthwest Georgia
Branches4
Collection
Size505,398
Access and use
Circulation579,367 (2015)[1]
Population served138,420 (2015)[1]
Members67,752 (2015)[1]
Other information
DirectorDelana Hickman
Websiteshrls.org
Map

Patrons of the library receive a PINES library card. This card may be used at any of the 275 libraries affiliated with the program across Georgia, as well as the 4 branches in the Sara Hightower Regional Library System, and is open to all Georgian residents.[2][3] The SHRLS is also affiliated with the GLASS (Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services) program which offers library services for the blind and physically handicapped.[4]

Because of its size, encompassing multiple counties in northwestern Georgia, SHRLS has one of the highest interlibrary loan percentages in the state, with approximately 30,000 books on ILL over the 2015 year.[1]

History

Looking to construct a public library in Rome many prominent members of the public petitioned industrialist Andrew Carnegie for funds as he had donated money to build hundreds of libraries elsewhere across the county. On December 24, 1909 Carnegie approved a $15,000 building plan and donated the money on the condition the town would pay an annual upkeep and maintenance fee of $1,500 to keep the building in good condition.[5] While an initial blueprint of the building called for a 1,200 to 1,500 capacity auditorium, the final building excluded this feature as per Carnegie's personal aversion to large lecture halls in public libraries.[6] The building was formally dedicated to the public on May 2, 1911 with a collection size of 1,800 books which originally belonged to the Young Men's Library Association which existed in the late 1800s as a subscription-based library.[7]

The next branch built in the Sara Hightower Regional Library System was the Cedartown branch. The planning for this library began in 1914 when A.K. Hawkes of Atlanta gifted $7,500 to be split between five towns in Georgia to build libraries for children. The Cedartown Cotton and Export Company donated land to be used for the library. In an effort to raise money to match the donation by Hawkes the town raised $30,000 for construction.[8]

In 1921 the Hawkes Children's Library opened. It grew quickly over the next half century necessitating a move to the New City Complex in 1974 where the name was changed to the present-day Cedartown Library.[8]

The Cave Spring branch began as a white concrete block building in the 1950s on the boundaries of the Cave Springs School property. Most of its members were students who would use the library because of its proximity to their school.[9] In this decade the Carnegie building also began receiving improvements. Increased shelving space in an addition was added to the building in 1951, and a reading garden was constructed in 1958.[6]

During the 1960s the counties of Polk and Floyd joined with Bartow County, Georgia to create the Tri-County Library system. For the next twenty years this consortium would work with the Mary Munford Library in Cartersville, Georgia before it branched off in 1981 to form the Bartow County Library System.[10]

Another renovation to the Carnegie building in 1983 added an additional exterior room for more shelving space.[6] In 1988 the Cave Spring building was dedicated to the community and moved to its current location on Cedartown street.[9] The Carnegie Library was eventually replaced with the Rome-Floyd Public Library located on Riverside Parkway.[7]

On 1 November 2020, the Chattooga County Library System library system merged with the Sara Hightower Regional Library System.[11]

Branches
NameAddressWebsite
Cave Spring-Floyd County Library17 Cedartown Street Cave Spring, GA 30124http://cavespring.shrls.org/
Cedartown-Polk County Library245 East Avenue Cedartown, Georgia 30125http://cedartown.shrls.org/
Rockmart-Polk County Library316 North Piedmont Avenue Building 201 Rockmart, Georgia 30153http://rockmart.shrls.org/
Rome-Floyd County Public Library205 Riverside Pkwy Rome, GA 30161http://rome.shrls.org/

Library systems in neighboring counties

References
  1. "Georgia Library Current Look 2015" (PDF). Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  2. "Get a Library Card". Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  3. "PINES". Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  4. "Public Library Directory". Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  5. Jones, Theodore (1997). Carnegie Libraries Across America. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14422-3.
  6. Walker, Jr, Robert Burke (1994). Georgia's Carnegie Libraries: A study of their History, Their Existing Conditions, and Conservation (PDF). Athens, Georgia. pp. 68–70. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  7. "Carnegie Library". News Publishing Company. Calhoun Times. August 2004. p. 57. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  8. "Cedartown History". Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  9. "Cave Springs History". Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  10. "Cartersville Library-Bartow County Library System -Georgia". Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  11. "Library Merger Happening November 1st". WRGA. 9 October 2020. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020. The Summerville News reported on Thursday that the Chattooga County Library’s merger with the Sarah Hightower Regional Library will be completed on November 1st.
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