The Euchee Creek Library is celebrating its 15th anniversary.
John Welch, the library's manager since it opened May 22, 1994, has seen many changes over the years.
"Certainly there has been more people. We have a much larger collection (of books) than when we opened," Welch said, adding that the library opened with 6,000 to 8,000 books.
Now the library boasts more than 50,000 books, videocassettes, DVDs, audio books, public access computers for Internet usage and a radio frequency identification system for inventory and checking out books.
"In that time period, the whole Internet thing came along, in libraries in particular," Welch said. "It is a lot different. We had a card catalog when we opened up here. In Columbia County, those are long gone these days."
Margaret Ann Hogue, a longtime library volunteer, organized a birthday celebration May 23 that featured two cakes, including one with a Dr. Seuss theme, children's activities, and refreshments.
County library officials opted to build the $1.2 million, 10,000-square-foot facility on Wrightsboro Road at Louisville Road, centrally located between Harlem and Grovetown, to serve residents from both towns and the Appling area.
Because Harlem already had a library, Grovetown officials pushed to have the county's third library built in the city.
"We wanted the library in the city limits, but Euchee Creek was a pretty good place for it," then-Mayor Dennis Trudeau said. "It is pretty well centralized."
Welch said the library has a similar circulation to the larger Augusta Friedman and Jeff Maxwell library branches and draws patrons from Columbia County and beyond.
"We draw people from all over the county," Welch said, adding that he had patrons from Wrens, Ga., in the library May 19. "We draw from McDuffie County and some from Richmond County, too. ... We draw them in from all over the place."
Welch said lots of families, especially military families, travel from Grovetown. The trip is short enough to ride a bicycle or even walk.
The library is named for a creek near Grovetown.
Hogue, a Friends of the Library member and former Library Board member, said that residents chose the name from four options as a fundraiser for the library.
"We took a vote on what names should be," Hogue said. The voting/donations boxes were placed around the county. "We collected pennies."
Hogue said the name race was tight, though she and other Grovetown residents hoped Euchee Creek would win.
Hogue said she expects the opening of the new Grovetown High School, which is only about three miles away on Chamblin Road at Baker Place Road, will bring a new group into the library.
"With all the new development and the new Grovetown High School, I think that the library is going to get a lot of use," Hogue said.
But what makes Euchee Creek Library special is its ambience. The atmosphere feels like home, and the staff treat visitors like family, Welch said.
Welch said his staff works hard to take away the institutional feel of larger libraries.
"I think that is what makes it a good library," Welch said. "Here, we get to know our patrons. ... It is nice to know people when they walk in. I think it makes a difference in every way."
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