The Okefenokee Regional Library System (OKRLS) is a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...

system serving the counties of

Ware WARE (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting ...

, Appling,

Bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

, and Clinch,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The headquarters for the library system is the Waycross-Ware County Public Library located in

Waycross, Georgia Waycross is the county seat of and only incorporated city in Ware County in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 13,942 in the 2020 census. Waycross gets its name from the city's location at key railroad junctions; lines from six di ...

. OKRLS 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. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as ...

, a program of the Georgia Public Library Service 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

Alma-Bacon County Library

Early years of an established public library are not known for Bacon county, yet it is known that the county school superintendent, E. C. Perkins, housed a very large collection of books. Perkins decided in the late 1930s to take the necessary steps to turn her large book collection into a public library. This first library officially opened in October 1940 and quickly moved into an abandoned building that had been built in 1930 as an overflow for the nearby hospital. With a building and collection secured the library proposed a merger with the local Historical Society to operate out of the same building. In doing so the two organizations were able to receive funds from the county budget which enabled the library to stay open for a full five-day schedule each week. As another perk of the merger the Alma-Bacon library has a vast Historical and Genealogical collection that is available to the public.

Appling County Public Library

Interest in a library in Appling County was sparked in 1928 when the Georgia Library Commission loaned 500 books to the Baxley Woman's Club who were looking to organize a public library service to the town. The library at first consisted of a single bookcase full of these books and other donated by townspeople and the women of the club, and was housed in one of the members' home. By 1936 this library had grown to the point where it moved to the back of the courthouse and a Library Board was organized to run the system. When the courthouse was due for renovations in 1953, space was again dedicated for use by the library. In April 1961 the Appling Library became a branch of the greater Okefenokee Regional Library System. Due to increased interest in expanding the regional library more funding came in and was saved for future use to build a new dedicated library building. In 1976 the library has raised through donations and grants $140,000, and the following year this was matched by the County Commissioners. In 1977 the City Council donated a site in town for the library, and construction began. The library was dedicated to the city of Baxley in 1978.

Branches

Library systems in neighboring counties

Ohoopee Regional Library System The Ohoopee Regional Library System is a public library system serving the counties of Jeff Davis, Montgomery, Tattnall, and Toombs, Georgia. The logo of the system features a vidalia onion, as the region is home to Vidalia, Georgia where the ...

to the north. *

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

to the east. * South Georgia Regional Library to the south west. * Satilla Regional Library System to the west.

References

External links

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