ONEONTA PUBLIC LIBRARY
60+ Years of Award-Winning Service, 1948-Present

ONEONTA PUBLIC LIBRARY HISTORY

In 1948 the library started as a project of the Oneonta Garden Club Council in the old pump house on Jefferson Avenue with 200 books. On January 16, 1949, a formal opening was held. On February 4, 1949, it became a City Library and affiliated with Alabama Public Library Service (APLS).

Oneonta Public Library moved to a large office room on the ground floor of the new Oneonta Civic Center in 1954. In 1960, the library moved upstairs in the Civic Center into an area containing five rooms of approximately 1,300 square feet of floor space to accommodate a growing service. On December 8, 1970, the Oneonta City Council voted to move the library to the Civic Center auditorium.

In 1972 the move to the Civic Center Auditorium was completed. A formal opening and dedication was held. An additional room was added to the same location in 1986 to accommodate a large workroom and office space for a county library in the future. This added room gave the library a total of 3,372 square feet for the entire facility.

On November 11, 1990, a Historical marker was dedicated at the site of the first public library.

In 1995 a Library Assessment by an independent consultant confirmed the library must move to a larger building in order to better serve the community and house a collection totaling almost 45,000 items. In 1996, the City of Oneonta purchased Oneonta Worship Center's building to renovate for a new library.

In 1997, the “Investing in Knowledge’’ fund raising campaign headed by the Library Board successfully raised over $540,000 for a new library. Renovation of the building began in October of that year.

The library moved from the City Hall building into a new 8,000 square foot library facility and opened on June 1, 1998. Official Open house was August 2, 1998.

The library went into full automation in April, 2001. This was the result of receiving a LSTA Grant in the Fiscal Year of 2000 through APLS. Oneonta Public Library was a member of the consortia Library Management Network based in Decatur, Alabama.

Oneonta Public Library was selected as one of four libraries in Alabama to receive the prestigious Alabama Library Association Standards Award. OPL was awarded the Gold Star Award at the Association Public Library Divisions Awards Breakfast at the ALLA Convention in Montgomery, 2004.

The Alabama Library Association recognized Oneonta Public Library for the highest honor awarded to Alabama’s public libraries : The Blue Ribbon Standards Achievement Award. Then Library Director Emily Tish accepted the Blue Ribbon Award on behalf of the Library Board of Trustees, Library Staff and the City of Oneonta during the 2007 ALLA Convention.

The Blue Ribbon Standards Achievement Award has been conferred on only ten public libraries in Alabama. Among these are Hoover Public Library, Orange Beach Public Library, Birmingham Public Library, Homewood Public Library, Mobile Public Library, and the Thomas B. Norton Library in Gulf Shores. The certificates of Standards Achievement Awards are based on "A Plan for Excellence : Standards for Public Library Service in Alabama", and are administered by the Standards Committee of the Public Library Division of ALLA.

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GOVERNMENT OF ONEONTA PUBLIC LIBRARY

Oneonta Public Library is governed by the Oneonta Public Library Board of Trustees consisting of five trustees whose appointment must be approved by the Oneonta City Council. The rules governing the Board are set forth in their By-Laws.

The Oneonta Public Library is a department of the City of Oneonta. Library personnel whose salaries are paid by the City come under the City Personnel Policies.

Funding to the library comes from Alabama Public Library Service, the City of Oneonta, and the Blount County Commission.

The Board is responsible for general policy setting, long range planning, and overseeing expenditures. The Director, who is appointed by the Board and approved by the City Council, is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the facility in all its aspects. This includes personnel, materials selection, public relations, budget preparation and allocation, and operational details.