Georgia lags the nation in funding its public libraries, and Northwest Georgia is behind the rest of the state, according to supporters of the Dalton-Whitfield County Public Library.
On Dec. 7 several supporters of the library attended the first public hearing on Whitfield County’s proposed 2022 budget to ask the county Board of Commissioners to increase funding for the library.
The library is part of and the headquarters for the Northwest Georgia Regional Library System, which also includes the Chatsworth-Murray County Public Library and the Calhoun-Gordon County Public Library.
According to data provided by the Georgia Public Library Service, Georgia ranked 47th in the nation for local funding for libraries, averaging $16.74 per capita in 2020.
For the Northwest Georgia Regional Library System, local per capita funding was $6.63, less than half the state average, in 2020.