About Our Library​

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In 1948 the Oneonta Public Library (OPL) started as a project of the Oneonta Garden Club Council in the old pump house on Jefferson Avenue. With 200 books, the library formally opened on January 16, 1949, and it became a city library affiliated with Alabama Public Library Service on February 4, 1949.

A few years later in 1954, Oneonta Public Library moved to a large office room on the ground floor of the new Oneonta Civic Center. As the library continued to grow, it once again relocated upstairs in the Civic Center into an area approximately 1,300 square feet. On December 8, 1970, the Oneonta City Council voted to move the library to the Civic Center Auditorium.

Once the move to the Civic Center Auditorium was completed in 1972, a formal opening and dedication was held. An additional room was added in 1986 to accommodate a large workroom and office space for a county library in the future. With this addition the library now had a total of 3,372 square feet of space in the facility.

A historic marker was dedicated at the site of the first public library on November 11, 1990.

As the collection grew, it was decided in 1995 that the library must move to a larger building in order to better serve the community and house the growing collection. A Library Assessment by an independent consultant confirmed this necessity. A year later the City of Oneonta purchased Oneonta Worship Center to renovate for a new library.

The 1997 “Investing in Knowledge” fundraising campaign headed by the Library Board successfully raised over $540,000 for a new library. Renovation of the building began in October, and the library opened on June 1, 1998. Oneonta Public Library now had an 8,000 square foot library facility. Official Open House took place on August 2, 1998.

As a result of an LSTA Grant in Fiscal Year 2000 through APLS, the library was able to go into full automation in April 2001. In 2004 OPL was selected as one of four libraries in the state of Alabama to receive the prestigious Alabama Library Association (ALLA) Standards Award. The library was awarded the Gold Star Award at the Public Library Division’s Awards breakfast at the ALLA Convention in Montgomery that same year.

Just three years later in March 2007, OPL was selected to receive the Alabama Library Association Blue Ribbon Standards Award. Only ten Alabama Public Libraries had attained Blue Ribbon level at that time.

The library looks much different than it did when it opened in 1948. OPL is still home to many books for people of all ages, but there is also a mobile charging station and a 3D printer. Oneonta Public Library remains community-centered and looks forward to the years ahead.

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For more information, visit the library's website.