The Clayton County Library System (CCLS) is a

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 consisting of six branches in the north central portion of Georgia, south of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Its six branches serve 65% of the county population, making it one of the highest attended library systems in Georgia per capita. CCLS participates in

PINES A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

, a public library network of 281 libraries in 140 counties throughout Georgia. Any resident of Georgia may receive a PINES library card which allows them access to any of the 8 million books in its collection across the state. The library is also a member of GALILEO, Georgia's "virtual library" which facilitates online access to over 100 databases (including magazine articles and online books) for researchers and students on a wide variety of topics.

History

Flint River Regional Library System

An idea for a library in Jonesboro was started in 1941 by the Jonesboro Women's Club. The collection at this time was only 200 books which were housed in the Jones Brothers Department Store on South Main Street. In 1960 this small location had grown and joined the Flint River Regional Library System in

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

. By joining this consortium the members of Jonesboro were able to have access to a much larger selection of books and services. By 1964 the town of Jonesboro was willing to build their own official library to support the library system, and in 1966 opened the Jonesboro Branch. Over the next two years the towns of

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

and Riverdale opened their own locations, in 1967 and 1968 respectively. By 1975 the Morrow Branch opened in

Morrow wikt:morrow, Morrow is a word meaning "the next day" in literary English. It also means "morning" in archaic English Morrow may also refer to: Places in the United States and Canada United States *Morrow, Arkansas *Morrow, Georgia *Morrow, Louis ...

Clayton County Library founding

With four regularly visited branches already established in Clayton, the county opted to form its own independent library system in 1981. By 1988 they constructed the Headquarters Library, the largest library in the system, and the location of the library administration. In 1991 the Morrow Branch moved to Maddox Road, and the new construction received critical acclaim in modern architecture by ''Architecture and Urbanism'' magazine. In 1998 a new Riverdale Branch was constructed on Valley Hill Road. The Lovejoy Branch was constructed in 2005 along McDonough Road. The most recent addition, a new location for the Forest Park Branch, was completed in 2012. In 2015 the library received a grant from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority enabling librarians to partner with key organizations in the community to teach financial literacy, home ownership, budgeting, money management, and business ownership.

Locations

Library systems in neighboring counties

Atlanta–Fulton Public Library System The Atlanta–Fulton Public Library System is a network of public libraries serving the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, both in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is administered by Fulton County. The system is composed of the Atlanta Centr ...

to the north west *

DeKalb County Public Library The DeKalb County Public Library (DCPL) is the public library system of DeKalb County, Georgia in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The library system headquarters are at the Darro C. Willey Administrative Offices in Decatur, Georgia, Decatur. Its ...

to the north east *

Flint River Regional Library System The Flint River Regional Library System (FRRLS) is a collection of nine public library, public libraries in the Atlanta metropolitan area of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The library serves the residents of the following six counties: Butts Coun ...

to the south west * Henry County Library System to the south east

References

External links

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