Mission
To provide print and non-print materials of an educational and recreational nature, varied and wide-ranging information services, and related programs and services to the people of Wilson County. The Library cooperates with other institutions and participates actively in appropriate community affairs to utilize and enhance cultural, educational and recreational resources.
History:
The first organized public library service in the County of Wilson was provided by the Wilson Library Association, founded in 1899. In 1921, the Woman's Club of Wilson took over the book inventory of the by-then-defunct Wilson Library Association, and expanded its collection by soliciting funds and donations; the collection was housed at the Woman's Club's Pine Street location.
In 1923, after the Wilson City Board of Commissioners allocated funds to support the library, it moved to rented rooms at the corner of Nash and Tarboro Streets downtown, enabling city residents to use it without annual subscriptions. Wilson County began appropriating money for it in 1925 and provided space for it at the newly-constructed County Court House soon thereafter. The library remained at this location until 1939.
In 1937, authorized by the North Carolina General Assembly, the Board of Commissioners for both Wilson County and the Town of Wilson appropriated $17,500 of non-tax-derived funds to be used by the library Board of Trustees to construct a free public library. The federal Works Progress Administration granted additional funds for the construction of the library. The library cost over $75,000, including land, building, and equipment. In 1938, architect Frank W. Benton was selected by the Library Trustees to establish the first government-operated public library services.
The two-story 14,000-square-foot library building, featuring Georgian architecture with a high ceiling interior, was completed on downtown Nash Street in mid-summer 1939. It was described by Daisy H. Gold in the Wilson newspaper as "the stately brick structure with its white columned entrance, located some distance from the street, [which] makes a beautiful picture among the splendid grove of fine old magnolias and oaks. . . . The tall fan-shaped windows, the exquisite Georgian styled woodwork, the soft green walls make an impressive background for the library furnishing." Even the Raleigh newspaper termed it "One of the finest and most modern libraries . . . in Eastern Carolina."
Over the years, the library building has become a favorite subject of artists and photographers. The front facade has attracted much attention and admiration. In addition to the architect's rendering, both Jerry Miller, a Raleigh artist and architect commissioned by the Wilson Sertoma Club in 1974, and John Harriss, a freelance Wilson artist commissioned by the Friends of the Library in 1989, have reproduced it in attractive and striking pen and ink drawings. Staff photographers from the Wilson Daily Times and various television stations, as well as many professional and amateur photographers, have repeatedly photographed and filmed it while numerous artists have made paintings of it in various media.
The Wilson County Public Library has evolved from a one-location library into a multiple-branch system. In June 1953, the Library opened a branch at Five Points in Wilson. With federal funds made available in 1957 for the establishment of rural libraries, library branches were opened that year in both Stantonsburg and Lucama. In 1967, the Elm City branch library was established. In 1989, a new branch was opened in Black Creek, with great assistance from the Black Creek Historical Society. The Wilson Negro Library, which opened in 1943, merged in 1964 with the Wilson County Public Library and became what is now the East Branch Library.
In December 1978, the Library let bids to expand the main library building. Construction started the following February. Work continued until April 1980. Eight thousand square feet of floor space was added, at a cost of $650,000, about nine times what it cost to build the original building. On October 25, 1980, the library held an open house to dedicate the newly-enlarged building. The library also developed additional parking space. The parking lot was enlarged again in 1986-87.
The building additions were closely integrated in style and format with the existing structure, creating "the grandest and most beautiful building in a town that prides itself on beauty," according to Raleigh newspaper columnist Dennis Rogers. "If," he wrote, "a building can have the human qualities of grace, dignity and elegance, the Wilson County Public library has it."
