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Jefferson County Public Library company history timeline

1856

The first book of holdings was printed in 1856, enumerating 2,205 books that could be circulated.

1918

1918: *The Booker T. Washington Branch, the only Negro public library in Alabama, was established for the 80,000 Negro residents of the city.

1927

1927: *The present four-story [BPL] Central [Linn-Henley building], with a capacity for 300,000 volumes, was opened April 11th.

1929

There it remained until 1929, when a bond issue was secured for the purchase of the Powell House (above), located at the corner of Main and Elm.

1966

In 1966 the building underwent major changes and construction, a two-year project.

1974

The directors of the Jefferson County libraries had been meeting for about 10 years at this point, and in 1974 informally organized as the Jefferson County Public Librarians Association.

1977

In 1977, the boards of the various libraries agreed to try cooperative services.

1978

28, 1978, and the organization’s name changed to Jefferson County Public Librarians Association.

The first Commission funding check was received in 1978.

1979

Upon the retirement of Lois Upshaw, Phil Teague, the Shelby County system head, left that position and joined Jefferson County in 1979 to lead the countywide library operation.

1982

1982: Member fees implemented using telecommunications ports for calculations, and 17.5 percent was taken from member libraries’ state aid for cooperative services.

1983

The Hoover Library opened a new library in 1983.

1985

JCLS was able to do this due to the 1985 501(c)(3) incorporation, which enabled JCLS to take out a bank loan to be paid back in installments.

1988

1988: First countywide email system was set up.

1996

Began loading bibliographic records, patron records, and some circulation history and began circulating in November 1996.

1997

Stewart retired from JCLS in July 1997.

1998

First, a grant from the Gates Library Foundation in 1998 provided computers to every public library in Alabama.

1998: In 1998 the member libraries of JCLS only had 425 computers for public/staff use countywide.

2000

2000: Alabama Virtual Library was established.

2001

2001: The Innovative bank loan was paid off four years early.

2002

The formula for member fees based on telecommunications expenses stayed in place until a new method, based on the Cleveland Public Library Consortium, was put in place in 2002.

In 2002, the Board of Directors voted to change the name from Jefferson County Library System, Inc. (JCLS) to the Jefferson County Library Cooperative, Inc. (JCLC) to better reflect the cooperation between member libraries.

Other interested parties joined their efforts, adding books and patrons and moving from place to place until the library finally found a home at the southwest corner of West and Second Streets in 1854. It remained in use until 2002, when the Library Board of Trustees purchased a van to be used for library outreach services.A Major Overhaul

2005

2005: Homework Alabama began offering free, live tutors for homework help.

The formula for member fees was based on telecommunications expenses, and this stayed in place until a new method based on the Cleveland Public Library Consortium model was put in place in 2005.

2008

2008: Jefferson County NEA Big Read: Project Mockingbird, NEA grant.

2012

2012: Innovative upgrade to Sierra; funded by LSTA grant monies.

2014

In 2014, member library fees were increased 25 percent when emergency funds began dwindling.

2017

By 2017 JCLC would have 1,456 PCs in 40 libraries countywide.

2018

2018: The Public Libraries In Jefferson County celebrate 40 years of cooperation!

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Jefferson County Public Library competitors

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Boulder Public Library-$13.0M48-

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