The Bartow County Library System (BCLS) is the

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

system of

Bartow County, Georgia Bartow County is located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 108,901, up from 100,157 in 2010. The county seat is Cartersville. Traditionally considered part of northwest Georgia, B ...

, United States. It consists of three branches serving a population of 103,000 people. The main branch is located in

Cartersville Cartersville is a city in Bartow County, Georgia, United States; it is located within the northwest edge of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 23,187. Cartersville is the county seat of Bartow Cou ...

, while supplementary branches are present in

Adairsville Adairsville is a city in Bartow County, Georgia, Bartow County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 4,878. Adairsville is approximately halfway between Atlant ...

and Euharlee. BCLS's vision is to be recognized as a significant educational, cultural, recreational, and economic asset as well as a comprehensive and varied community learning resource for the county.

History

The Bartow County Library System had its beginnings in 1896 as a library organization started by the Cherokee Women's Club of Bartow County. In 1903 a building was funded and constructed to be used as the library, and was located on Public Square. This first library was named the Mary Munford Memorial Library of the Cherokee Club after its first library chairman, who died while the library was being built. In 1932 the library was made public to the citizens of Cartersville. By the 1960s the Mary Munford library was falling into disrepair. The town acquired the ownership of the library and a new board took over the day-to-day running of the library. During this time the library joined a consortium with two other counties to create the Tri-County Library system. This included Bartow County, Floyd County, and

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

. In 1980 the town took complete control over the library building and erected their new courthouse on the property. The library moved to its current location on West Main Street in Cartersville, and in the following year left the Tri-County Library System. In 2004 the library began its first expansion in an effort to rapidly increase the floor space from 17,333 to 44,455 square feet. This was done in the interest of helping the community at a greater capacity. During this time two more locations were established: Adairsville and Euharlee in 2009.

Branches

Library systems in neighboring counties

Cobb County Public Library System The Cobb County Public Library System (CCPLS) is a library system, system of 16 public library, public libraries in Cobb County, Georgia, Cobb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, excluding its second-largest city of Smyrna, Georg ...

to the southeast *

West Georgia Regional Library System The West Georgia Regional Library System (WGRLS) is a library system serving the public libraries of five counties of Northwest Georgia: Carroll, Douglas, Haralson, Heard, and Paulding. WGRLS is a member of PINES, a program of the Georgia ...

to the south * Sequoyah Regional Library System to the east *

Sara Hightower Regional Library System The Sara Hightower Regional Library System (SHRLS) is a system of 6 public libraries in the Northwest Georgia region serving Chattooga County, Polk County and Floyd County. The headquarters of the library system is located in Rome, Georgia, ...

to the west *

Northwest Georgia Regional Library System The Northwest Georgia Regional Library System (NGRL) is a public library system across the Northwest Georgia counties of Gordon, Murray, and Whitfield. NRGL participates in PINES, a public library network of 281 libraries in 140 counties through ...

to the north

References

External links

*
BCLS official catalog
{{authority control County library systems in Georgia (U.S. state) Public libraries in Georgia (U.S. state)