The Coastal Plain Regional Library System (CPRL) is a
public library
A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...
system serving the counties of
Ben Hill,
Berrien,
Cook
Cook or The Cook may refer to:
Food preparation
* Cooking, the preparation of food
* Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food
* Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry
* C ...
,
Irwin Irwin may refer to:
Places
;United States
* Irwin, California
* Irwin, Idaho
* Irwin, Illinois
* Irwin, Iowa
* Irwin, Nebraska
* Irwin, Ohio
* Irwin, Pennsylvania
* Irwin, South Carolina
* Irwin County, Georgia
* Irwin Township, Venango Co ...
,
Tift
Tift may refer to:
Places
*Tift County, Georgia, a county in south-central Georgia, United States
People with the given name
* Tift Merritt (born 1975), American singer-songwriter
People with the surname
* Andrew Tift (born 1968), British portra ...
, and
Turner
Turner may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name
*One who uses a lathe for tur ...
in the U.S. state of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. The Coastal Plains Headquarters Library is located in
Tifton.
CRPL is a member of
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.
''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as ...
, a program of the
Georgia Public Library Service that covers 53 library systems in 143 counties of Georgia. Any resident in a PINES supported library system has access to the system's collection of 10.6 million books. The library is also serviced by
GALILEO
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
, a program of the University System of Georgia which stands for "GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online". This program offers residents in supported libraries access to over 100 databases indexing thousands of periodicals and scholarly journals. It also boasts over 10,000 journal titles in full text.
History
The Coastal Plain Regional Library System originated during a time in Georgia history were the state began providing increased funds for libraries if they were a part of a greater regional system.
As many of the county libraries in what is today the Coastal Plain Region were small and short on books, Tift County approached Berrien, Irwin, Turner, and Cook counties to see if an agreement could be made to combine their services into one larger system. Effective September 1, 1956 the system was born, and had the distinction of being the largest regional library system at the time.
In 2018, the
Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Library joined the system.
Tift County
On February 3, 1905, nine women of the Twentieth Century Club met together to organize a public library in Tifton. The library was originally small; it was subscription-based, with a maximum of 25 patrons paying $1.00 per year to borrow books from the small collection. Within a few years, interest in the library grew and there was a greater demand to be included on the list of subscribers. Noticing this, the women began to move their collection into larger spaces, and at the same time included more patrons. For many years the collection moved across Tifton before settling in a remodeled home with ample room for the stacks as well as an auditorium for public functions and small club rooms.
By 1930, Tift County and the city of Tifton took a larger role in providing the public access to the free library. The subscription-based system was replaced with public funds from the city and county. Contributions were used in the upkeep and maintenance of the building and collection.
With funding now increased for the library, monies were put away for use in an eventual move to a larger facility. In 1966, again cramped for space, the library used this money to renovate the old town post office into a new library. This building received another renovation in 1981 with the addition of a large room and expanded space for services.
Branches
Library systems in neighboring counties
*
Lake Blackshear Regional Library System to the northwest
*
Ocmulgee Regional Library System to the north
*
Satilla Regional Library System to the east
*
South Georgia Regional Library to the south
*
Brooks County Public Library to the south
*
Moultrie-Colquitt County Library System to the southwest
*
Worth County Library System to the west
References
External links
PINES catalog
{{authority control
County library systems in Georgia (U.S. state)
Public libraries in Georgia (U.S. state)