The Screven-Jenkins Regional Library System (SJRL) is a two county

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 serving the counties of Screven and

Jenkins Jenkins may refer to: People * Jenkins (name), history of the surname * List of people with surname Jenkins * The Jenkins, country music group Places United States *Jenkins, Illinois *Jenkins, Kentucky *Jenkins, Minnesota *Jenkins, Missouri *Je ...

Georgia. SJRL 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. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

, a program of the

Georgia Public Library Service The Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS) is the state agency for libraries in the U.S. State of Georgia and a unit of the University System of Georgia. The service was initially founded in 1996 after the inception of the Library Services and Tec ...

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, 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 Screven County Library was the first branch of this system to be incorporated, as part of the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

in June 1936. The library headquarters was originally in the county courthouse and was run by Carrie White. White, not satisfied with the small starting collection received by the WPA, donated her own collection of books to the library. Within the first year the library received other donations of books, 300 from the Sylvania school system, and 100 from the Georgia Library Commission. As the collection grew the library realized it needed more space to store all of its books. The library moved twice before settling in the first floor of the Sylvania Masonic lodge in 1950. The following year members of both Screven and Jenkins counties came together to work out details of a library system. The Screven-Jenkins Regional Library was the result of this meeting and was officially organized in November 1951. The headquarters was agreed to be the Screven County Library, with Jenkins County Memorial being the library branch for the neighboring county. With only two libraries serving the entirety of two counties a bookmobile was added in 1952 to help rural patrons get access to the books as well. In 1953 a member of the county, George Lorimer, donated $8,000 for the construction of a new library in Screven County on the requirement that the money be matched by the county board within 6 months. The amount was matched, and in August 1955 a bond issue passed to fund the rest of the construction fees for a new building. In 1989 the Screven County Library moved again into its current building.

Branches

Library systems in neighboring counties

Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library System The Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library System (GCHRL) is a consortium of eight public libraries working together to serve the populations of Columbia, Burke, Lincoln, and Warren counties in east Georgia. GCHRL is a member of PINES, a program o ...

to the north. *

Live Oak Public Libraries The Live Oak Public Libraries are a consortium of sixteen public libraries in the Savannah metropolitan area and Hinesville – Fort Stewart metropolitan area of Georgia, United States. The library provides services for Chatham County, Effingha ...

to the south east. *

Statesboro Regional Public Libraries The Statesboro Regional Public Libraries (STRL) is a public library system that supports the counties of Bulloch, Bryan, Candler, Emanuel, and Evans Georgia. The central library is located in Statesboro, Georgia. STRL is a member of PINES, a p ...

to the south.

References

External links

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