Catoosa County Library

Last updated
Catoosa County Library
Catoosa County Library.png
Catoosa County Library
34°56′7″N85°10′54″W / 34.93528°N 85.18167°W / 34.93528; -85.18167
Location108 Catoosa Circle, Ringgold, Georgia
Established1937 (library)
2009 (system)
Branches1
Collection
Size155,186 (2020) [1]
Access and use
Circulation220,129 (2020) [1]
Population served68,771 (2020) [1]
Members17,190 (2020) [1]
Other information
Budget$1,069,000 (2014) [2]
DirectorSarah Holmes
Website http://www.catoosacountylibrary.org/

The Catoosa County Library is a single branch public library system serving Catoosa County, Georgia, United States. The library branch is located in Ringgold.

Contents

The library is a member of PINES, a program of the Georgia Public Library Service that covers 53 library systems in 143 counties of Georgia. [3] Any resident in a PINES supported library system has access to the system's collection of 10.6 million books. [4] 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. [5]

History

Two libraries originally served the county of Catoosa. The first was located in Ringgold, named the Ringgold Public Library. It was established in 1937 with help from the Works Progress Administration and was housed for one year in the upstairs of the old Methodist parsonage in town. [6] With the completion of a new city courthouse in 1938, the library was rededicated as the Core Jones Murphey Library and moved to the basement, where it remained until 1971. [7] [8] The second library in the county, the Fort Oglethorpe Library, was constructed in 1971 and served the residents in the Fort Oglethorpe section of Catoosa County. [8]

In 1943 the State Department of Education and Georgia Legislature passed a bill granting increased state funding to libraries in rural areas if they chose to make a regional library system with neighboring counties. [9] The Dalton Public Library board of Whitfield County approached Catoosa County with the request of a merger to join the system and become eligible for more financial support. The Ringgold Public Library thus became the first affiliate library of what was named the Dalton Regional Library in 1945. [9] Gordon County soon joined in 1957, as did Murray County in 1958. [10] [11] With the creation of the Fort Oglethorpe library in 1971, the system changed its name to the Northwest Georgia Regional Library System. [12]

In the late 1990s a SPLOST campaign set out to provide funding for a new library building in the county that would consolidate the Ringgold and Fort Oglethorpe collections into one building. $3 million was set aside to construct a public facility complex named the Benton Place Campus, with $1.9 million dedicated to the new library facility. [8] [13] Construction of the library was completed in 1999, and in the same year the Mildred E. Ward Special Collections Room was dedicated to the community as a genealogical and local history room for south Tennessee and Georgia. [14] The room holds collections of Revolutionary and Civil War military records, local obituaries and pension cards, and a large Native American section focusing on the Cherokee Nation which had originally lived in the area. [15]

In 2008 the library joined PINES, an open border library system across the state of Georgia. This increased the virtual collection size to over 9.5 million books. Upon becoming a PINES affiliated library, Catoosa County opted to leave the Northwest Georgia Regional Library System and create its own system. The Catoosa County Library system was officially dedicated in 2009. [15]

Library systems in neighboring counties

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catoosa County, Georgia</span> County in Georgia, United States

Catoosa County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,872. The county seat is Ringgold. The county was created on December 5, 1853. The meaning of the Cherokee language name "Catoosa" is obscure: "Catoosa" may come from the Cherokee words gatusi or gatu'gitse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ringgold, Georgia</span> City in Georgia, United States

Ringgold is a city in and the county seat of Catoosa County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 3,414 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, Tennessee–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia State Route 2</span> State highway in Georgia

State Route 2 (SR 2) is a 165-mile-long (266 km) east-west State highway in the far North-northern part of Georgia. The highway serves southern suburbs of Chattanooga, Tennessee, as well as much of the mountains in the northern part of the state. It traverses the counties of Walker, Catoosa, Whitfield, Murray, Gilmer, Fannin, Union, Towns, and Rabun. It connects Flintstone, in the northwestern part of the state, with the South Carolina state line southeast of Clayton in the northern part and the northeastern part of the state. It also travels through Fort Oglethorpe, Ringgold, Ellijay, Blue Ridge, Blairsville, and Hiawassee. Parts of the highway in the Whitfield and Murray county area are designated as the Cohutta–Chattahoochee Scenic Byway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Georgia</span> Region in Georgia, United States

Northwest Georgia is a region of the state of Georgia in the United States. It includes 12 counties, which at the 2010 census had a combined population of 753,032. Northwest Georgia includes some of the southernmost portions of the Appalachian mountains, as opposed to Northeast Georgia, which holds the southernmost Blue Ridge, known locally as the North Georgia Mountains.

Heritage High School (HHS) is a public secondary school located in Ringgold, Georgia, United States. It is in the Catoosa County Public Schools district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Georgia Regional Library System</span>

The Northwest Georgia Regional Library System (NGRL) is a public library system across the Northwest Georgia counties of Gordon, Murray, and Whitfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athens Regional Library System</span> Public library system in northeast, Georgia, U.S.

The Athens Regional Library System (ARLS) is a consortium of 11 public libraries across five counties, comprising the Athens – Clarke County metropolitan area as well as Franklin County in northeast Georgia, United States.

The Chattooga County Library System (CCLS) was a public library system consisting of two libraries in Chattooga County, Georgia, United States, in the northwest region of the state. On 1 November 2020, the library system merged with the Sara Hightower Regional Library System. The library headquarters and main branch is located in Summerville with a second, smaller branch in Trion.

The Cherokee Regional Library System (CRLS) is a public library system consisting of four libraries in the counties of Walker and Dade, Georgia. The central library, the Lafayette-Walker County Public Library, is located in LaFayette, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hall County Library System</span>

The Hall County Library System (HCLS) is a public library system in Hall County, Georgia, United States, consisting of five public libraries. Four of these libraries are located in Gainesville, with the newest branch, Spout Springs, in Flowery Branch.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troup-Harris Regional Library</span>

The Troup-Harris Regional Library (THRL) is a public library system serving the counties of Troup, and Harris, Georgia, United States. The central library, LaGrange Memorial, is located in LaGrange, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Rivers Regional Library System</span>

The Three Rivers Regional Library System (TRRL) is a public library system that serves the counties of Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Long, McIntosh, and Wayne, Georgia, United States. The administrative office of the system is located in Jesup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okefenokee Regional Library System</span>

The Okefenokee Regional Library System (OKRLS) is a public library system serving the counties of Ware, Appling, Bacon, Clinch, and Pierce, Georgia. The headquarters for the library system is the Waycross-Ware County Public Library located in Waycross, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocmulgee Regional Library System</span>

The Ocmulgee Regional Library System (ORLS) is a public library system in the U.S. state of Georgia serving Dodge, Bleckley, Pulaski, Telfair, Wheeler, Wilcox counties. The headquarters of the system is the Murrell Memorial Library, which is located in Eastman, Georgia|Eastman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peach Public Libraries</span>

The Peach Public Libraries is a consortium of two public libraries in central Georgia, serving Peach County. Its headquarters is the Thomas Public Library in Fort Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Blackshear Regional Library System</span>

The Lake Blackshear Regional Library System (LBRLS) is a public library system covering the four counties of Sumter, Crisp, Dooly, Schley, Georgia, United States. The Lake Blackshear Headquarters Library is located in Americus. The system is also home to the second oldest Carnegie library in Georgia, located in Cordele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worth County Library System</span>

The Worth County Library System is a public library system serving the county of Worth, Georgia, United States. There is one branch in the system, the Sylvester-Margaret Jones Library located in Sylvester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coastal Plain Regional Library System</span> Public library system in Georgia, U.S.

The Coastal Plain Regional Library System (CPRL) is a public library system serving the counties of Ben Hill, Berrien, Cook, Irwin, Tift, and Turner in the U.S. state of Georgia. The Coastal Plains Headquarters Library is located in Tifton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dougherty County Public Library</span>

The Dougherty County Public Library is a public library system serving Dougherty County, Georgia. The Central Library is located in Albany, Georgia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "A Current Look at Georgia Public Libraries and GPLS 2020" (PDF). Georgia Public Library Service. June 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  2. Jett, Tyler (October 6, 2014). "Catoosa County library board wants reins over budget". Times Free Press. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  3. "PINES - About" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  4. "PINES Facts" (PDF). Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  5. "GALILEO - About" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  6. Catoosa County, Georgia Heritage 1853-1998. Waynesville, NC: Walsworth Publishing Co. 1998. p. 10.
  7. McDaniel, Susie Blaylock (1953). Official History of Catoosa County Georgia 1853-1953. Dalton, Georgia: Gregory Printing & Office Supply. p. 200.
  8. 1 2 3 "Catoosa County Library - History" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  9. 1 2 The Dalton Regional Library System (PDF). The Georgia Librarian. pp. 14–17. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  10. Bell, Burton J. (1976). 1976 Bicentennial History of Gordon County Georgia. Toccoa, Georgia: Commercial Printing Company. pp. 424–425.
  11. Murray County Heritage. Roswell, Georgia: WH Wolfe. 1987. pp. 460–461.
  12. "NGRL - History" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  13. Frank, Randall (September 2, 2008). "SPLOST and Catoosa, how different would the county be without it". Rome News-Tribune. northwestgeorgianews.com. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  14. "Local History and Genealogy" . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  15. 1 2 "Something for Everyone". No. February–March 2012. Catoosa Life Magazine. The Daily Citizen. Retrieved 14 April 2017.