About Your Library

In September of 1922, the Canton Woman’s Club put forth the initial plans for a public library in Canton, and in 1923, the club gave a collection of books which established Canton’s first public library. The collection was housed in rent-free space behind Higgins Jewelry Store on Main Street and presided over by the late Miss Malinda Roberts who volunteered to keep it open two days a week.

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In 1957, the R.T. Jones Foundation bought the old McAfee home on Main Street to house the library, also providing the $25,000 needed to remodel the home for library use. At this time, the library became qualified for State aid which enabled the library to expand its collection. The State also loaned the library a bookmobile in 1957 until the library purchased its own in 1958.

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In 1932, Pickens County Library had its beginnings when a group of 4-H girls and Home Demonstration Clubs expressed a desire for something to read. Henrietta White Darnell, a Home Demonstration agent, borrowed fifty books at a time from the Georgia State Library Commission and checked them out to her club members. While the present Pickens County courthouse was under construction, the library was housed in the Pickens County High School (now Jasper Middle) until 1949, when the library was given a room in the basement of the newly constructed courthouse. Charter members of the Pickens County Library Board of Trustees were Ruth Adams, Marjorie Floyd Butchart, and Henrietta Darnell. In 1958, the Pickens County Library became affiliated with R.T. Jones Library, creating the Cherokee-Pickens Regional Library.

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Gilmer County Library was founded in the summer of 1940 as a room inside the Gilmer County Courthouse. Started as a federal W.P.A. project, the library also had local support from J & C Bedspread Company, the City of Ellijay, and the Ellijay Women’s Club. Charter members of the Gilmer County Library Board of Trustees were Mrs. E.T. Hudson, Chairman; Mrs. R.W. Smith, Co-Chairman; Mayor Willard Holden; L.N. Foster, School Superintendent; C.F. Owen, Editor; and Mrs. Joe McCutchen, J & C Bedspread Company representative.

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The Gilmer County Board of Education and the Library Board of Trustees began to share responsibility and expenses, and during the summer of 1956 the library moved into a building located behind the old Ellijay Elementary School gymnasium and which also housed the old cannery (across from the present location of the First United Methodist Church). This location continued to serve as both a public and elementary school library until the current library building was constructed in 1977, and the two collections were separated.

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In 1957, a committee was appointed to contact Pickens and Cherokee counties with the idea of joining their regional library, with their report returning favorable if finances could be achieved. At that time, Gilmer County library was funded by a combination of State and County matching funds based on the number of students, money from the State Library Commission, and miscellaneous local donations. In 1959, plans were formalized to join the regional system with the Cherokee and Pickens counties. Commissioner Harold Hefner and Superintendent Everett Weeks agreed to increase their offices’ contributions, making it possible for Gilmer County Library to join the regional library.

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​On July 1, 1961 the Cherokee-Pickens-Gilmer Regional Library was renamed as the Sequoyah Regional Library System.

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In the late 1980s, the 8,000 square foot R.T. Jones Library at 400 East Main Street was no longer sufficient for the growing population. Chairman of the Board of Trustees W.W. Denney began the search for a site to house a larger facility, and on July 20, 1989 a transaction was completed that would provide three acres for a new 30,000 square foot building. Cherokee County purchased the building on Main Street, making the site on Highway 20 near I-575 available. Groundbreaking was held March 8, 1990, and on May 1, 1991 the building opened to the public. Dedication of the R.T. Jones Memorial Library, 116 Brown Industrial Parkway, was held June 12, 1991 with Chairman Denney giving a warm welcome and Senator Bill Hasty introducing the speaker, Lt. Governor Pierre Howard.

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In 1964, the Woodstock Public Library was established and as the community’s population grew, additional library space was needed to keep pace with growth. In Cherokee County, three new libraries were added as a response to the exponential growth that was taking place in the 1980s and 1990s: Rose Creek Public Library in 1991, Hickory Flat Public Library in 1993, and Ball Ground Public Library in 1997. In 1996, the Sequoyah Regional Library System signed a contract with the Cherokee County Law Library Board to administer the Law Library located in the Justice Center.

 

More than 100 years after the beginning of R.T. Jones Library in Canton, Sequoyah Regional Library System strives to continue offering new resources, programs, and spaces to keep pace with the community’s need for more services.