February 2013 WLLB Community Voice
Podcast Radio Interview
The Whitesburg Public Library, a branch of the West Georgia Regional
Library system and a member of the Georgia PINES Library System, opened
on March 31, 2008. The 2,700-square foot facility has shelving to
accommodate up to 10,000 volumes. Seven public-access computers offer
high-speed Internet connections. The lobby area of the library houses a
small museum about the Whitesburg area.
The library is supported by an active group of volunteers, the Friends
of the Whitesburg Public Library. Through the Friends’ Matching Gift
Program, all donations made to purchase books (up to $100) are matched.
Since the library opened, the Friends have matched more than $10,000
donated for the purchase of books. Donations to purchase books may be
sent to the Whitesburg Public Library, 800 Main Street, Whitesburg,
Georgia 30185. All books purchased by these donations feature
bookplates noting who purchased the books and if they were purchased in
honor of or in memory of someone.
Anyone supportive of the purposes of the Friends of the Whitesburg
Public Library is eligible to become a member. Membership levels are
$20 for individual/family, $50 for patron and $100 for sustaining
members. Members receive a $5 discount at the Friend’s used book store,
Harvey’s House of Books. Send membership requests to Post Office Box
451, Whitesburg, Georgia 30185.
The Library is Making a Difference
in the Community
Since the library opened, it has reached children who had little or no
access to libraries. More than 1,200 new library cards have been
issued, with over half of those cards issued to children. The summer
reading program participation has grown from 50 children in 2008 to 130
children in 2010. Many of these children did not have an opportunity to
participate in summer reading programs before the Whitesburg Public
Library opened.
The library has experienced dramatic growth since its opening. In
fiscal year 2009, the library circulated 13,293 items and 6,799 patrons
visited. (This was the library's first full fiscal year of operation,
since the fiscal year runs July 1-June 30.) In fiscal year 2010, the
library expanded its hours and circulation grew to 20,234 items, a 52%
increase over 2009, and 20,115 people visited the library, a 196%
increase over FY 2009.
In 2010, grants from the Carroll County
Master Gardeners and the Alice H. Richards Foundation made it possible
for a garden to be established at the library. Located on a sunny plot
of land adjacent to the library, the garden played a major role in the
library’s 2010 summer reading programs for children, teens and adults.
It allowed library patrons of all ages to learn lessons in gardening
from master gardener volunteers. The garden also has greatly enhanced
the library grounds with ornamental bushes, flowering plants and a water
feature. The garden features two handicapped accessible raised beds,
four other raised beds, trees, shrubs, flowers and other plantings such
as blueberry bushes.
Six Years of Fund-Raising to
Reach the Needed $250,000
The library opened following six years of fund-raising to reach the
needed $250,000. The realization of Whitesburg’s dream to build a
library is a success story that can serve as an inspiration to other
small communities who desire to better their citizens’ lives.
“One of the primary reasons the local community worked with the Rural
Library Project to build our library was to serve people, especially
children, who had little or no access to other libraries in the West
Georgia area,” said Jackie Pate, president of the Friends of the
Whitesburg Public Library.
The dream to build the Whitesburg Public Library was realized on
December 10, 2005 as state and local officials participated in a
ceremonial ground breaking. A contractor was hired and building began
in August 2006. Consultation and oversight
of the construction and equipping phases were provided by The Rural
Library Project.
Click On Blueprint To See Full Size
HISTORY OF THE PROJECT
In 2002, citizens from
Whitesburg interested in obtaining a library in their community attended
the dedication of a new public library in the small community of Yatesville,
Georgia. They found the new library lovely and wonderfully functional
and were inspired to have a similar facility in Whitesburg.
A public meeting on later
that year kicked off Whitesburg’s efforts as local citizens gathered to
discuss the idea to build a local public library. As there was strong
interest in the community at large, an organizing committee was formed.
This committee reviewed the architectural plan of the Yatesville Public
Library and determined that it should be adequate for the Whitesburg
library, with little modification. These plans were available free of
charge, as part of The Rural Library Project’s involvement.
In an important act of
support for Whitesburg and this project, the Carroll County Board of
Education in 2003 committed the property between Whitesburg Elementary
School and City Hall for the location of the future Whitesburg Public
Library. Contacts with area legislators and the director of the West
Georgia Regional Library system provided endorsements and support for
this project.
A major step forward in
obtaining the funds needed to build the library came from the commitment
of $100,000 in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenues by the
City of Whitesburg. Other funds for the library have been raised
through foundation and government grants, corporate, civic and private
donations, many local fund-raising events and sales of donated used
books at the Friends of the Library used book store. During the 2006 Legislative session,
State Senator Mitch Seabaugh and Representative Tim Bearden secured a
$20,000 local assistance grant from the State of Georgia to be used in
equipping the library.
Grand Opening Demonstrated Community Involvement
In an afternoon of celebration and
recognitions, more than 200 people gathered to mark the grand opening of
the Whitesburg Public Library on Saturday, June 21, 2008.
The event included tours of the library,
a ribbon cutting and a program that featured local and state officials.
All of the day’s speakers noted the
community effort that made the dream to open a library in Whitesburg a
reality. That community involvement was dramatically demonstrated
during the ceremony when everyone present who had contributed through
their donations, time or talents was asked to stand. Almost everyone in
the audience stood up!
The Friends of the Whitesburg Public
Library concluded the program by presenting a $1,000 check to the Rural
Library Project. In making the presentation, The Friends said they
wanted to “pay it forward” as they asked that the money be used in
building another library in a rural community. The Rural Library
Project, a nonprofit organization committed to the establishment of new,
small libraries in rural areas, views local public libraries as centers
of learning, community building and civic pride.
CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE WHITESBURG PROJECT.
Seven-year-old Asher,
left, and his brother Emory, 11, look up books on one of
the catalogue computers during the opening of the
Whitesburg Public Library on Monday morning. The library
has 3,000 books which were donated, six computers with
Internet access and more children’s books on the way.
(Photo by Julie Dawes/Times-Georgian.)
Whitesburg Opens Its New Library
By Meghann Ackerman
The Times-Georgian
Posted: Tuesday, April 1, 2008 1:48 AM EDT
Even before the 11 a.m. opening time a crowd had gathered at the
Whitesburg Library, which opened Monday after nearly six years of
planning and work by volunteers.
In 2002, a group of residents began looking for a way to get a library
in Whitesburg. They met with the Rural Library Project, which has also
helped Yatesville set up a library, and presented information at a town
meeting. After years of raising money through book sales, a special
purpose location option sales tax and grants, the library opened with
3,000 books, six computers hooked up to high-speed Internet and two
dedicated to the library’s card catalogue.
“It’s really going great,” librarian Jana Whetstone said. “We’ve had a
lot of people coming in.”
In the first hour of being open, Whetstone had already signed eight
people up for library cards. Like other libraries around Georgia, the
Whitesburg branch is part of the PINES System, which allows patrons to
check out books or request books from branches across the state.
Jackie Pate, a member of the Friends of the Whitesburg Public Library,
said it took $250,000 to get the library up and running. Whitesburg gave
the project $100,000 in SPLOST funds and the Friends raised money
through book sales, grants and donations. Pate said none of the books on
the shelf of the library on opening day had been bought -- they were all
donated.
Both residents in Whitesburg and in the surrounding county area got
behind the project.
“There’s a lot of people inside and outside the city who have been
pushing for it,” Mayor Amy Williford said.
Williford said the city will continue to fund the library’s upkeep,
utilities and part of Whetstone’s salary. Carroll County will fund the
rest of the librarian’s pay.
Sarah Wynn, the director of administrative services of the Rural Library
Project, said small-town libraries bring a lot to the communities
they’re in.
“It brings so much to a community -- the local collection of books and
music CDs and high-speed Internet,” she said. “Through the state of
Georgia PINES System the people of Whitesburg can check out books all
over the state.”
To help small towns get a library going, Wynn said the Rural Library
Project offers a number of services including grant writing, fund
raising help and construction project management.
What she said seems to be most helpful to towns is knowing how other
communities have started their libraries.
“There aren’t a lot of libraries being built,” she said. “It’s something
a town does once.”
A Whitesburg library won’t just be convenient for the people of
Whitesburg. Anyone with a PINES library card will be able to check out
or return books there. It also gives citizens of Clem the choice between
two branches.
Rebecca Leftwich was at the Whitesburg Library on Monday with her
children. Leftwich said she grew up in Whitesburg and now lives in Clem.
“We had the bookmobile every summer, so I had to bring them to see it,”
she said.
Her 8-year-old daughter Savannah pointed out that the library would be
convenient for visiting family.
“We can visit the library whenever we visit Nana and Papa,” she said.
Savannah, who calls herself a bookworm, checked out six books on Monday.
She said she’ll have no problem reading them before their due dates.
The Friends of the Library consider Monday to be their soft opening. A
grand opening will be held in June. In the meantime, a few projects are
already planned: an exhibit on Whitesburg history will be installed in
the entrance, another computer will be installed and more books will be
on the shelf. Pate said the library has a $6,000 grant from the
Community Foundation of West Georgia to buy more children’s books.
