Library celebrates 50 years

Celebrating 50 years of the Emmet O’Neal Library is about more than a building. It’s about all the people who have made it into a cultural and learning center for the city.

The original library building, completed in 1965, was a gift of the Elizabeth and Kirkman O’Neal Foundation. It was named in honor of Kirkman’s father, Emmet O’Neal, who served as governor of Alabama starting in 1910 and set up a rural library system during his time in office.

An article announcing the library’s opening boasted that it was “all-electric,” “heated and cooled by an electric heat pump” and earned an All-Electric Building Award. Due to rising interest, an east wing was added onto the library starting in 1966, enlarging the original Georgian brick structure. 

Doris Young, circulation department head, has worked at the library since April 1976. She remembers adding a reference library and front entrance onto the original building before the current building was constructed in 2001. 

Young recalled the years when the staff typed out overdue notices and left them at the circulation desk so that they could check them before anyone checked out a book. She also remembers when books came with their own card catalog cards and when children had to write reports on books to add them to their summer reading logs.

The library joined the Jefferson County Library Cooperative when it began in the late ’70s. Today, unlike other libraries in the system, Emmet O’Neal still stamps due date cards and puts them in the back pocket of each book at checkout. 

Over the years, the library’s collection has grown from an initial 8,000 books to its current approximately 141,000 books, 7,000 DVDs and 6,000 audiobooks. Today it hosts 140 adult programs, 40 teen programs and 780 children’s programs each year.

“As it grew, this community is on the cutting edge, and the library has always strived to give it to them,” former children’s department head Carol Melton said. 

To celebrate 50 years of growth and service to the community, the library is ordering lots of cake and hosting special events detailed on this page. For more information, visit eolib.org.

Library Anniversary Events

Photo Tour

• All month
• Photographs from the library’s history and popular books and movies from the ’60s to the present will be on display around the library. 

Children’s Photo Booth

• All month
• Children can pose with retro props and one photo for each decade. 

Teen Trivia

• Sept. 3, 6:30-8 p.m.
• Teens can test their knowledge of the past 50 years.

Family Night: Funikijam

• Sept. 8, 5:30 p.m.
• Dinner and birthday cake will be served with a concert at 6 p.m. 

Every Treasure Has a Tale: Conversations with Antiquities Expert John Jones 

• Sept. 12, 9:30 a.m. 
• Jones will present some of the most interesting items he has brokered in his career. To register, call 879-0459, visit eolib.org or visit the Adult Services desk. 

An Evening With the Author: Doris Kearns Goodwin 

• Sept. 12, 6-9 p.m.
• Tickets are $50 each and available only at the second floor reference desk. Call 445-1121 for availability and details.