The Stanly County Public Library system is composed of a central library, located in County Seat of Albemarle, and four branch libraries in Locust, Badin, Oakboro, and Norwood. The address and business hours of each facility are listed below.

"The mission of the Stanly County Public Library is to provide
enriching environments where educational, cultural, recreational,and informational services and people connect."

In order to provide the best possible customer service to all library patrons, pertinent policies and procedures have been established. These policies and procedures have been approved by the Stanly County Public Library Board of Trustees and the Stanly County Commissioners. Select from the following list to view a library policy.

Code of Conduct Policy	Internet Policy
Display Policy	Library Card Policy
Equipment Replacement Policy	Materials Selection Policy
Excluding Patrons Policy	Meeting Room Policy
Gift Policy	Overdue Materials Policy
Inter-Library Loan Policy	Safe Child Policy & Brochure

The library has several groups that provide an invaluable partnership. Without the support of Trustees, Friends, and Volunteers, many of the services patrons enjoy today would not be possible.

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Library Board of Trustees... Trustees of the Stanly County Public Library are appointed by the Board of Commissioners to six-year terms on the Library Board of Trustees. The board serves in an advisory capacity to ensure that library policies support the mission of the public library.

They also act as liaison between the library, local government and the community. For that reason, the trustees represent different geographic areas of the county.

Trustee meetings are open to the public and are held the third Wednesday of each month at 12 noon in the Meeting Room at the Main Library in Albemarle. Below is the current members of the Board of Trustees.

Friends of the Library... The Friends of the Stanly County Public Library was formed in 1992 as a non-profit organization to provide support for the Stanly County Public Library. Friends promote public support and use of the library, inform members and the public of issues affecting the library, assist the library in increasing literacy in Stanly County, and sponsor special events.

In its seven years of existence, the organization has sponsored Author Dinners, Writing Workshops, organized and staffed Book Sales and supported many library programs such as the Children's Summer Reading Program and the Adult Summer Reading Program.

They have also donated many materials to the library, including two computers for use in the children's department, a refrigerator for library staff, a scanner, audiobooks and large print books for the library's collection and many hours of volunteer service in library activities.

To join the Friends, return the completed Friends application form to the library

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Library Volunteers... Volunteers are an important addition to the staff of the Stanly County Public Library. They may perform a variety of tasks such as shelving books, processing new materials, repairing damaged books, reading during storytime, etc. We welcome volunteers and if you would like to commit a certain amount of time every week we'd love to have you.

The Stanly County Public Library Endowment Fund was created in 1986 by the Library Board of Trustees. Stanly County's Board of Commissioners approved the fund on July 21, 1986. The fund is jointly controlled by the Board of Trustees and the Board of County Commissioners and any projects funded by the Endowment must be approved by both boards. Funds in the Endowment may be used for the following:

Capital improvement projects which expand present or future facilities

Major new or additional services

Support for the Margaret Johnston Heritage Room

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Purpose... The fund is created for the purpose of receiving gifts and bequests made to and for the benefit of the Stanly County Public Library.

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Contributions... Contributions to the Endowment Fund will increase educational opportunities for children, families and citizens of Stanly County. They will be used to broaden access to information and enhance the quality of life for senior citizens, beginning adult readers and those learning English as a second language. The fund is able to accept the following:

Cash donations

Stocks and Bonds

Designations in Wills

Other Gifts such as land or other property

Contributions to the Endowment Fund are tax deductible.

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How to make contributions... If you would like to make a donation to the Endowment Fund, contact the Library Director at (704) 986-3765 or send your contribution to:

Stanly County Public Library

Endowment Fund

133 East Main Street

Albemarle, NC 28001

Funds contributed in honor of or in memory of an individual will be acknowledged by notification to the donor and to the designee.

The Albemarle Woman's Club began a library in 1915 that was presented to the town of Albemarle in 1916. The Woman's Club purchased the private library of John C. Wright to begin their collection. From 1916-1919 many activities were held to raise funds for the library. It became the Stanly County Public Library on July 1, 1927, and was housed in the Albemarle Hotel. In 1939, the library was moved to a new county building adjacent to the courthouse. This building, now torn down, was located where the Colonnade for Courthouse Square Park now stands at the corner of Main and Second Streets in Albemarle. A color print commemmorating this building was done by Roger Thomas, a local artist, in 1996.

The first Badin Library opened in 1939, Norwood Branch and Oakboro Station opened in 1940 and in 1945, a branch in Kingville was begun. The bookmobile began operation in 1947.

The current Main library in Albemarle was completed in 1972. The library operated the bookmobile until September 13, 1993, when it was retired. The Locust Branch Library was opened soon after that, with much of the collection from the old bookmobile.

The library has been a department of county government since 1975 and is governed by the Board of Commissioners. The Library Board of Trustees is an advisory board appointed by the Commissioners to represent various geographical areas of the county.

The library in 2002 consists of a Main library, four branch libraries, extension services provided by a library van and a web site for electronic access to library resources.