310 Cappes Street
Dalton, GA 30720
(706) 876-1360
Hours of Operation:
Closed Sunday - Monday
Tuesday - Thursday, 10am - 7pm
Friday -10am - 6p
Saturday - 10am - 1:30pm
The Dalton-Whitfield County Library is headquarters for the three-county Northwest Georgia Regional Library System, a cooperative more than fifty years old. The purpose of the Region is to save duplicative administrative costs and achieve economy of scale.
A library began in Dalton through the efforts of the Dalton Senior Woman's Club in 1921. By 1945, a converted military ambulance purchased from surplus war stock served as a bookmobile which provided county-wide service. The current library, at the corner of Waugh and Cappes Streets in Dalton, was constructed in 1982 and includes a genealogy room, a computer lab, historical documents including local newspapers back to 1868, book and audiovisual stack areas, and a children's department.
Extension/outreach service includes delivery service of books and other library materials to homebound individuals. All residents of our three-county region may use library materials in any of our facilities, and participation in the PINES network allows our residents to borrow materials from other PINES libraries in Georgia.
Public programming, notably pre-school story hour and summer reading club for school- aged children, is a regular feature of public library service. Public computer and Internet access are available as is computer-assisted basic English training in our computer lab.
The collection includes large print materials, audio books, music on cd's, videos, fiction and non-fiction books and a limited collection of books in Spanish, especially in the life coping skills areas.
Library Director Joe Forsee has announced that funding cuts are going to impact on the schedule of public service hours of the Dalton-Whitfield Public Library, effective August 1, 2011.
Funding cuts for public libraries are not new, but this year’s cuts are more severe than ever,” he said. The cut from the state of Georgia, which has traditionally provided the majority of funding for the Dalton-Whitfield Public Library is $90,000. This year, Whitfield County, the second largest provider of tax supported funds, has cut public library funding by $26,000. The combined cut is $116,000. The City of Dalton and the City and County Schools, who also fund the public library, have maintained a continuation budget for the library through the current year.
To work within previously reduced budgets, the library system has already eliminated positions, furloughed positions, and decided not to fill most positions when vacancies occur. In fact, the library has lost 33% of its staff in the last year, and has not filled most vacancies for at least the last three years. Although public use of the library including computer use and book circulation remains strong, Forsee and the Library Board of Trustees have resorted to reducing public service hours.
As of Monday, August 1, 2011 the hours are as follows:
Over the last two years, eligible staff members have donated vacation days and worked extra days and hours, as well as donating money to keep all services operating. The Library Board and administration have tried to take cuts in ways that represent the least painful changes for library patrons.
In light of the growing dichotomy between available budget and increased demand, library officials determined that the only responsible course of action would be to streamline and reorganize the existing system in order to continue to meet the needs of our expanding patron base. The Library Board, administration, and staff regret that these service cuts have become necessary and hope that the budgetary situation will improve so that full library service can be restored in the future.
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