Library History

Public Library service for Bainbridge began in 1902. The Women's Club began the movement to establish a public library. A meeting was held by interested citizens and a library board was chosen. They called themselves the Bainbridge Free Library Association and adopted a constitution and by-laws at the first meeting in April, 1902. This first library was supported principally by gifts of books and dues of members of the Library Association. In 1913, the board secured space for the library in the new City Hall.

In 1936, a traveling librarian was employed and direct rural services were started with the librarian distributing books from her car. This led to the County Board of Education and County Commissioners purchasing the first new bookmobile in the state of Georgia in 1938.

In 1939, federal funds were obtained for a new building and this building was dedicated in May, 1940. Library growth continued from there with state supplied allotments for books in 1944 and an increase in library staff to three in 1950. In the years that followed, a new bookmobile was put into operation, and a number of children's programs were inaugurated including the Vacation Reading Club.

In 1952, Seminole County joined Decatur and in 1967, Miller County joined the Decatur-Seminole Library system to form the Southwest Georgia Regional Library System. The Regional Library headquarters was built in 1975. Channel 24K, the library's video studio, and Talking Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped were added later. In 1988, a new branch library was constructed in Seminole County followed by a new branch in Miller County in 1989. In 1994, a renovation of the Gilbert H. Gragg Library headquarters in Decatur County was completed to provide for automation and expanded services to the people of the tri-county area.