Cobb County Government history

For eight years this was the sole library of the county, until the opening of the Franklin Lending Library in 1882.

With two libraries now present in the county the Marietta Library Association was founded in 1883.

In the city of Acworth, the Carrie Dyer Reading Club was established in 1889.

The first library building, the Sarah Freeman Clarke Library, opened on Church Street in 1893.

Austell established library service through the Austell Woman’s Club in the late 1920’s.

Cobb County established a library through the Board of Education in 1948.

A county-appointed study committee created in 1956 began to explore the possibilities of joining the Cobb County library collection with the existing Clarke Library.

The next year the committee finalized a merger, creating the Cobb County-Marietta Public Library Board, and two years later in 1959 they combined and brought the Clarke and Fort Hill libraries to the system.

In 1963, Acworth Library (from the Carrie Dyer Woman’s Club) joined the system, Kennesaw established a branch, and the old Marietta Post Office was renovated to become Central Library.

With a rapidly growing number of branches, a 1965 voters' referendum authorized $985,000 of library bonds to be divided into library construction, land purchases, books, supplies, and equipment for the system.

All seven opened on the same day in 1967, and were met with public approval.

With such a large number of libraries representing much more than just Marietta, the system changed its name to the present-day Cobb County Public Library System in 1969.

In 1978 taxpayers overwhelmingly approved a $7.16 million library issue to renovate and expand the Switzer (then Central) library to 64,000 square feet, and construct the Kemp Memorial Library, Mountain View Library, and Vinings Library.

In July 1991 the Friends of the Library and the CCPLS urged the passage of a new $7.06 million bond referendum in order to provide enough books to meet the success of neighboring library systems.

In 2003, the Chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissions, Sam Olens, shared his vision with the community and formed the first Cobb Library Foundation Board.

In 2007, Powder Springs Library moved into a new facility on Atlanta Road as part of a joint project with the City of Powder Springs.

East Cobb Library opened on February 1, 2010, replacing Merchant’s Walk Library.

Sewell Mill Library & Cultural Center, a joint-use facility with Cobb PARKS, opened in December 2017 replacing East Marietta Library.