ty of Atlanta and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners signed a contract under which library service was extended to all of Fulton County. In 1982, Georgia voters passed a constitutional amendment authorizing the transfer of responsibility for the library system from the City of Atlanta to the County. On July 1, 1983, the transfer became official, and the system was renamed the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library. In May 1980, a new Central Library was opened to the public under the leadership of Ella Gaines Yates, the first African-American director of the library system. Marcel Breuer, a participant in the innovative Bauhaus Movement, planned and designed the building, working closely with his associate Hamilton Smith. The Central Library was dedicated on May 25, 1980. Breuer was unable to attend the dedication ceremonies and died a year later on July 1, 1981, at the age of 81. In 2002, the centennial of when library service was first offered to the public, a major renovation of the Central Library was completed. In April 2004, the Library System instituted Sirsi's Unicorn, a state-of-the-art library automation system including iBistro, a virtual portal to resources at the library and throughout the world on the Internet. OUR MISSION:
The Fulton County Library System serves as a cultural and intellectual center that enriches the community and empowers all residents with essential tools for lifelong learning. The Fulton County Library System serves the citizens of Fulton County and the City of Atlanta (including the portion of the city in DeKalb County). It is the largest in the state, with 34 libraries. It offers innovative programs, services, and virtual resources tailored to meet the needs of each branch's community. Children, teens, and adults may choose from a variety of classes, visit exhibitions, listen to authors discuss their work, check out videos, DVDs, and CDs, attend book club discussions, get homework help, hear music and see live performances. The Central Library, originally designed by Marcel Breuer, recently reopened to the public after a 3-year renovation project, part of the Fulton County Library Bond Program, which also saw the renovation of 21 branch libraries, the new construction of 8 libraries, and the expansion and renovation of 2 libraries. The Central Library's newly completed facility was reopened to the public in October 2021. The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American History and Culture contains one of the foremost collections of African-American literature and historical documents in the nation. To fulfill its mission as "The People's University," the library also provides a wide variety of classes, workshops, seminars, and ongoing learning opportunities for library users at all learning and interest levels.
