Middle Georgia Regional Library System
The Middle Georgia Regional Library System is a library system which serves the Georgia counties of Bibb, Crawford, Jones, Macon, Twiggs and Wilkinson.
The old Carnegie library located in Montezuma, Macon County | |
Established | 1949 |
---|---|
Location | Central Georgia |
Branches | 14 |
Collection | |
Size | 594,540 (2016)[1] |
Access and use | |
Circulation | 864,669 (2016)[1] |
Population served | 229,412 (2016)[1] |
Members | 84,478 (2016)[1] |
Other information | |
Director | Jennifer Lautzenheiser |
Website | http://www.bibblib.org/ |
Patrons of the library receive a PINES library card. This card may be used at any of the 275 libraries affiliated with the program across Georgia, as well as the 14 branches in the Middle Georgia Regional Library System, and is open to all Georgian residents.[2][3]
History
Carnegie Library
The first request for a Carnegie library was sent by a Montezuma citizen by the name of E. B. Lewis in 1906. Blueprints sent along with the petition were modeled very similarly to the Carnegie building constructed one year earlier in Albany, Georgia.[4] On March 24, 1906 Andrew Carnegie accepted the request and gave the town of Montezuma $10,000 for construction of the building. This came with the stipulation that the town pay an annual upkeep and maintenance fee of $1,000 per year to keep the building in good condition.[5] Construction began later that year with help from Masons across Georgia.[6] By 1923 this library was seeing a circulation amount of 12,453 books per year, and the $1,000 annual cost of upkeep was still being administered per Carnegie's request.[7]
Branches
Bibb branches
- Washington Memorial Library, Macon
- Riverside Branch, Macon
- Charles A. Lanford, M.D. Library, Macon
- Shurling Branch, Macon
- West Bibb Branch, Macon
Regional branches
- Crawford County Public Library (Roberta, Crawford County)
- Jones County Public Library (Gray, Jones County)
- Ideal Public Library (Ideal, Macon County)
- Marshallville Public Library (Marshallville, Macon County)
- Montezuma Public Library (Montezuma, Macon County)
- Oglethorpe Public Library (Oglethorpe, Macon County)
- Twiggs County Public Library (Jefferson, Twiggs County)
- East Wilkinson County Public Library (Irwinton, Wilkinson County)
- Gordon Public Library (Gordon, Wilkinson County)
Library systems in neighboring counties
- Azalea Regional Library System to the north.
- Oconee Regional Library System to the east.
- Ocmulgee Regional Library System to the south.
- Houston County Public Library System to the south.
- Peach Public Libraries to the south.
- Lake Blackshear Regional Library System to the south.
- Pine Mountain Regional Library System to the west.
References
- "Current Look at Georgia Libraries 2016" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- "Catalog Search". Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- "LIBRARY CARDS & RULES". Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- Walker, Jr, Robert Burke (1994). Georgia's Carnegie Libraries: A study of their History, Their Existing Conditions, and Conservation (PDF). Athens, Georgia. pp. 60–62. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- Jones, Theodore (1997). Carnegie Libraries Across America. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14422-3.
- "Corner Stone at Montezuma: Meyerhart Lays Corner Stone at $10,000 Carnegie Library" (Vol. XXXIX, No. 237). The Atlanta Constitution. February 7, 1907. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
- "Montezuma Library Has Successful Year" (Vol. LV, No. 213). The Atlanta Constitution. January 12, 1923. Retrieved 12 May 2017.