Middle Georgia Regional Library System

{{Infobox library

| name = Middle Georgia Regional Library System

| logo = Middle_Georgia_Library_System.png

| logo_size = 300px

| logo_alt =

| image = File:Carnegie Library, Montezuma.JPG

| image_size = 300px

| alt =

| caption = The old Carnegie library located in Montezuma, Macon County

| country =

| type =

| scope =

| established = 1949

| dissolved =

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| location = Central Georgia

| coordinates = {{coord|32|50|19.2|N|83|38|19.2|W|type:region:US-GA|display=title,inline}}

| branch_of =

| num_branches = 14

| items_collected =

| collection_size = 594,540 (2016){{cite web|title=Current Look at Georgia Libraries 2016|url=http://www.georgialibraries.org/lib/publiclibinfo/currentlook/Current_Look_FY-16.pdf|accessdate=10 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308045215/http://www.georgialibraries.org/lib/publiclibinfo/currentlook/Current_Look_FY-16.pdf|archive-date=8 March 2017|url-status=dead}}

| criteria =

| legal_deposit =

| req_to_access =

| annual_circulation = 864,669 (2016)

| pop_served = 229,412 (2016)

| members = 84,478 (2016)

| budget =

| director = Jennifer Lautzenheiser

| num_employees =

| website = http://www.bibblib.org/

| references =

| embed =

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}}

The Middle Georgia Regional Library System is a library system which serves the counties of Bibb, Crawford, Jones, Macon, Twiggs and Wilkinson in the U.S. state of Georgia.

Patrons receive a PINES library card. This may be used at any of the 275 libraries affiliated with the program across Georgia, as well as the 14 branches in the Middle Georgia Regional Library System, and is open to all Georgian residents.{{cite web|title=Catalog Search|url=http://gapines.org/eg/opac/home?physical_loc=233|accessdate=21 February 2017}}{{cite web|title=LIBRARY CARDS & RULES|url=http://www.bibblib.org/library-information/library-cards-rules/|accessdate=21 February 2017}}

History

=Carnegie Library=

The first request for a Carnegie library was sent by a Montezuma citizen by the name of E. B. Lewis in 1906. Blueprints sent along with the petition were modeled very similarly to the Carnegie building constructed one year earlier in Albany.{{cite book|last1=Walker, Jr|first1=Robert Burke|title=Georgia's Carnegie Libraries: A study of their History, Their Existing Conditions, and Conservation|date=1994|location=Athens, Georgia|pages=60–62|url=http://www.libsci.sc.edu/histories/georgia/statehistory/carnegie/Carnegie3_libraries.pdf|accessdate=11 May 2017}} On March 24, 1906, Andrew Carnegie accepted the request and gave the town of Montezuma $10,000 for construction of the building. This came with the stipulation that the town pay an upkeep and maintenance fee of $1,000 per year to keep the building in good condition.{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Theodore|title=Carnegie Libraries Across America|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=New York|year=1997|isbn=0-471-14422-3|ref=Jones}} Construction began later that year with help from Masons across Georgia.{{cite news|title=Corner Stone at Montezuma: Meyerhart Lays Corner Stone at $10,000 Carnegie Library|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10944073/montezuma_carnegie/|accessdate=12 May 2017|volume=XXXIX|issue=237|publisher=The Atlanta Constitution|date=February 7, 1907}} By 1923 this library was seeing circulation of 12,453 books per year, and the $1,000 annual cost of upkeep was still being administered per Carnegie's request.{{cite news|title=Montezuma Library Has Successful Year|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10944101/montezuma_carnegie_successful_year/|accessdate=12 May 2017|volume=LV|issue=213|publisher=The Atlanta Constitution|date=January 12, 1923}}