Even before the 11 a.m. opening time a crowd had gathered at the Whitesburg Library, which opened Monday after nearly six years of planning and work by volunteers.

In 2002, a group of residents began looking for a way to get a library in Whitesburg. They met with the Rural Library Project, which has also helped Yatesville set up a library, and presented information at a town meeting. After years of raising money through book sales, a special purpose location option sales tax and grants, the library opened with 3,000 books, six computers hooked up to high-speed Internet and two dedicated to the library’s card catalogue.

“It’s really going great,” librarian Jana Whetstone said. “We’ve had a lot of people coming in.”

In the first hour of being open, Whetstone had already signed eight people up for library cards. Like other libraries around Georgia, the Whitesburg branch is part of the PINES System, which allows patrons to check out books or request books from branches across the state.

Jackie Pate, a member of the Friends of the Whitesburg Public Library, said it took $250,000 to get the library up and running. Whitesburg gave the project $100,000 in SPLOST funds and the Friends raised money through book sales, grants and donations. Pate said none of the books on the shelf of the library on opening day had been bought -- they were all donated.

Both residents in Whitesburg and in the surrounding county area got behind the project.

“There’s a lot of people inside and outside the city who have been pushing for it,” Mayor Amy Williford said.

Williford said the city will continue to fund the library’s upkeep, utilities and part of Whetstone’s salary. Carroll County will fund the rest of the librarian’s pay.

Sarah Wynn, the director of administrative services of the Rural Library Project, said small-town libraries bring a lot to the communities they’re in.

“It brings so much to a community -- the local collection of books and music CDs and high-speed Internet,” she said. “Through the state of Georgia PINES System the people of Whitesburg can check out books all over the state.”

To help small towns get a library going, Wynn said the Rural Library Project offers a number of services including grant writing, fund raising help and construction project management.

What she said seems to be most helpful to towns is knowing how other communities have started their libraries.

“There aren’t a lot of libraries being built,” she said. “It’s something a town does once.”

A Whitesburg library won’t just be convenient for the people of Whitesburg. Anyone with a PINES library card will be able to check out or return books there. It also gives citizens of Clem the choice between two branches.

Rebecca Leftwich was at the Whitesburg Library on Monday with her children. Leftwich said she grew up in Whitesburg and now lives in Clem.

“We had the bookmobile every summer, so I had to bring them to see it,” she said.

Her 8-year-old daughter Savannah pointed out that the library would be convenient for visiting family.

“We can visit the library whenever we visit Nana and Papa,” she said.

Savannah, who calls herself a bookworm, checked out six books on Monday. She said she’ll have no problem reading them before their due dates.

The Friends of the Library consider Monday to be their soft opening. A grand opening will be held in June. In the meantime, a few projects are already planned: an exhibit on Whitesburg history will be installed in the entrance, another computer will be installed and more books will be on the shelf. Pate said the library has a $6,000 grant from the Community Foundation of West Georgia to buy more children’s books.