Miss Louise McMaster was the first librarian in this new building. Membership in the library was over 2400. The collection contained 5000 books, 1000 of which were new books. Circulation was over 28,000 books per year.

Following World War II, Mrs. Nan Weller Carson became librarian. During her tenure the core of the library's renowned local history collection was assembled. A major renovation in 1956-57 added a children's room, shelf space, periodical storage, and staff work areas. The library remained on this site for the next 50 years.


Palmetto Branch

In 1933, a committee headed by the Reverend W.M. Parker campaigned for public support of the library for blacks, then housed in a Friendship College building. City Council and the Rock Hill Library Board supported the movement, and in 1936, the Palmetto Branch of the Rock Hill Library was created.

It was located in the Emmett Scott School, with Mrs. Susan Bailey as librarian. The Palmetto Branch moved to its own building on South Trade Street in December of 1944. Mrs. Annie Cloud was librarian. The library remained on this site until July, 1968, when the building was demolished as part of downtown Rock Hill's urban renewal.

Although it might boast of the earliest library, Rock Hill was not the only town in the county to be offering library service during the past 100 years. Other communities believed in libraries, too.


York

York Public Library

The York Public Library began in 1915 with the donated collection of the Fannie Miller Book Club. Thirty-five citizens met that January and formed a library organization, electing trustees Thomas F. McDow, J.C. Wilborn, Dr. E.E. Gillespie, J.R. Lindsey, J.G. Wardlaw, Mrs. W.B. Moore, Mrs. Annie Marshall, Mrs. S.C. Ashe, Mrs. G.H. O'Leary and Miss Margaret Gist. Miss Fannie Miller served as librarian. During the following years, the library was housed in several places including private homes, the Episcopal Parish House and City Hall.

An act of the SC General Assembly officially created the York Township Library on March 16, 1944. The library continued in rented quarters for the next 20 years. In 1964, a new library board started a fund drive to build a library. Construction began in 1966, and the 4000 square foot building on North Congress Street was dedicated March 3, 1968.


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