Gaston County Public Library History

          2000-2001

• The Gaston County Public Library received a $68,000 grant of new computers and software from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. The donation was part of the Gates foundation’s plan of donating computers to libraries in neighborhoods with certain poverty levels. (GGZ 13 June 2001, p. 1A)

          4 June 2000

• Dedication and Open House for the Union Road Branch Library. The Union Road branch was the first new Gaston County Public Library branch opened since 1960. (GGZ 5 June 2000, p. B1) The children’s book, “The Mayor of the Library” by Martha Hamrick Fernicola, published in 2009, recounts the campaign to create the Union Road branch library.

          20 May 2001

• Erwin Center Branch Library was renamed the James Ferguson branch of the Gaston County Public Library. James Ferguson had started serving as the Director of the Erwin Center Branch Library in September 1992. (GGZ 21 May 2001, p. 1B)

          1 July 2002

• The Gaston County Public Library began operating at reduced hours due to budget constraints. The Library now opened from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays. With the new hours, library public services reduced from 64 to 57 hours a week.

          12 May 2003

• The Florence Soule Shanklin Branch Library (East Lincoln Branch of the Lincoln County Public Library) opened to the public. The Shanklin library, located at 7837 Fairfield Forest Road in Denver, N.C. was a private/public cooperative effort. Walt Shanklin donated the land in memory of his wife Florence, a library volunteer and supporter. Lincoln County Commissioners funded the design and construction, while the East Lincoln Betterment Association Fundraising Committee raised funds for the library’s equipment and furnishings.

          22 June 2003

• Grand opening of the Florence Soule Shanklin Branch Library in Denver, Lincoln County, N.C.

          December 2003

• North Carolina Public Library Director’s Association selected Florence Soule Shanklin Memorial Library, designed by Architect Design Strategies LLC of Greenville, S.C., as the Outstanding New Facility under 10,000 square feet in 2003. The library is located in Denver, N.C.
• HeritageQuest Online is offered to library patrons and all Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library card- holders for off-site use. HeritageQuest Online, a Web-based subscription database produced by ProQuest, provides digital, searchable images of United States federal census records as well as local histories, compiled genealogies and primary sources.

          22 January 2004

• John Sanders, a noted attorney, educator, historian, and public servant, presented a bust of William Gaston to the Gaston County Public Library. The donated bust was a plaster cast that resulted from sculptor Robert Ball Hughes original 1834 metal bust of William Gaston. Gaston County was named in 1846 for attorney William Gaston who served in the N.C. Senate, N.C. House of Representatives and as a judge of the North Carolina Supreme Court. (GGZ 17/18 January 2004)

          March 2004

• The Gaston County Public Library added entertainment and educational DVDs for children and adults to the public library circulating collection.
  The new DVDs were made possible by a grant from the Akers Foundation and by funds raised by the Friends of the Gaston County Public Library in the Community Foundation of Gaston County’s 2003 "Run for the Money" project.

          12 October 2004

• Public Access Computer Center opened at the Gastonia Main Library. The PACC provided patrons with self-service access to software-managed computers containing Internet and Office 2000 programs.

          December 2004

• Ancestry Library Edition is offered to library patrons for on-site use. Ancestry Library Edition provides digital, searchable images of United States federal census records, as well as many genealogical databases.

          3 January 2005

• One hundred years since the opening of the Gastonia Public Library.

          11 January 2005

• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library System decided to upgrade the thirteen library branches with the Polaris Integrated Library System offered by Polaris Library Systems, Inc. (formerly known as Gaylord Information Systems, Inc.). The new Polaris system replaced the GALAXY automation system.

          May 2005

• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library System implemented the new Polaris Integrated Library System, which replaced the previous GALAXY automation system. The Polaris Library Systems, Inc. product included the Polaris PowerPAC online catalog, circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials control and system administration. In addition, the Library implemented the PowerPAC Children’s and Spanish Editions. 

          October 2005

• Leslie Levine served 22 years as Lincoln County Library Director before her death in October 2005.

          January 2006 (source: 2 Feb 2006 Supervisors’ Meeting memo)

• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library discontinued the purchasing of videos and books on tape.
• NC Live added audio books to its collection.
• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library contracted with the Sumner Group to redesign the Library’s web pages.
• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library is the recipient of the Gates Sustainability Grant, which will provide new computers for the original Gates library branch locations.

          March 2006

• The Gaston County Public Library began showing free foreign motion pictures featuring award-winning films on Monday nights at 7 pm. The first three films exhibited were Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity; Le Grand Voyage; and Carol’s Journey.

          May 2006

• Ed Trever became Director of the Lincoln County Library.

          6 December 2006

• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library launched a new library website. The new website was designed by the Sumner Group, an advertising and web design firm located in Gastonia, NC.

          18 December 2006

• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library began offering e-mail notification for holds, overdues, and billings as an option for patrons.

          November 2007

• Akers Family Foundation gave $10,000 to the Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library for the purchase of “early literacy stations” for the Main library and the branches. Each station will be a small sized computer with software designed for children including child-sized mice and color coded keyboards. (Supervisor’s Meeting, 7 Nov. 2007, summary from Anne Gometz)
• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library will be getting a subscription to Tumblebugs that supplies databases and programs for children. (Supervisor’s Meeting, 7 Nov. 2007, summary from Anne Gometz)

          December 2007

• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library network is being upgraded with the installation of fiber optic cabling, which will increase network connection speeds for all branches. (Supervisor’s Meeting, 7 Nov. 2007, summary from Anne Gometz)

          March 2008

• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library obtained a subscription to Tumble Book Library, which provides electronic and audio books for children.
• The Gaston-Lincoln Regional Library network was upgraded with the installation of fiber optic cabling, which increased network connection speeds for all branches.
• Gary Hoyle became Director of the Lincoln County Library.

          June 2008

• DeAnn is trying something new, a book club here at Main.  It will be on the 4^th Monday of each month at 7 p. m.  The first meeting will be June 23^rd. (Source: E-mail, June 5, 2008)

          October 2008

• Gary Hoyle resigns as Director of the Lincoln County Public Library

          19 September 2009

• Author Martha Hamrick Fernicola read from and signed copies of her book “The Mayor of the Library” at the Union Road Branch of the Gaston County Public Library. The book is about the Union Road community's successful campaign for the branch library at 5800 Union Road in Gastonia, NC.