The Sara Hightower Regional Library System (SHRLS) is a system of 6
public libraries
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 servants.
There are five fundamenta ...
in the
Northwest Georgia
Northwest Georgia is a region of the state of Georgia in the United States. It includes 12 counties (listed in the section below), which at the 2010 census had a combined population of 753,032. Northwest Georgia includes some of the southernmos ...
region serving
Chattooga County
Chattooga County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,965. According to the World Population Review, as of 2021, it is estimated at 24,803. The county seat is ...
,
Polk County and
Floyd County. The headquarters of the library system is located in
Rome, Georgia
Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statisti ...
, at the Rome-Floyd County Library.
Patrons of the library receive a
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 ...
library card. This card may be used at any of the 275 libraries affiliated with the program across Georgia, as well as the 6 branches in the Sara Hightower Regional Library System, and is open to all Georgia residents. 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.
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.
History
Looking to construct a public library in Rome many prominent members of the public petitioned industrialist
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
The Bartow County Library System (BCLS) is the public library system of Bartow County, Georgia, United States. It consists of three branches serving a population of 103,000 people. The main branch is located in Cartersville, while supplementary b ...
.
Another renovation to the Carnegie building in 1983 added an additional exterior room for more shelving space.
In 1988 the Cave Spring building was dedicated to the community and moved to its current location on Cedartown street.
The Carnegie Library was eventually replaced with the Rome-Floyd Public Library located on Riverside Parkway.
On 1 November 2020, the
Chattooga County Library System library system merged with the Sara Hightower Regional Library System.
Branches
Library systems in neighboring counties
*
Cherokee Regional Library System to the north.
*
Bartow County Library System
The Bartow County Library System (BCLS) is the public library system of Bartow County, Georgia, United States. It consists of three branches serving a population of 103,000 people. The main branch is located in Cartersville, while supplementary b ...
to the east.
*
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.
*
Northwest Georgia Regional Library System to the north east.
References
External links
PINES Catalog
{{Authority control
County library systems in Georgia (U.S. state)
Public libraries in Georgia (U.S. state)