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.
By comparison, local per capita funding for the Catoosa County Library in 2020 was $8.52. And local per capita funding for the Cherokee Regional Library System - which includes the Chickamauga Public Library, the Dade County Public Library, the LaFayette-Walker County Library and the Rossville Public Library - was $10.66 in 2020. The Sequoyah Regional Library System - which includes libraries in Cherokee, Gilmer and Pickens counties - had $11.67 in per capita local funding in 2020.
Patricia Edwards, who said she is a neighbor and supporter of the library, urged the commissioners to do more to support the library.
"An educated, skilled workforce is vital to our local economy," she said. "The library can play a key role in helping our citizens develop the education and skills they need."
She said pay at the library has lagged well behind the private sector.
"I've talked to people who would love to work at the library," she said. "But they say they need to support a family. They can make $18 an hour at Mohawk or $10 or $11 an hour at the library."
Edwards said the library doesn't have enough staff to stay open during the lunch period.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Jevin Jensen noted the county has put millions of dollars into the library over the years from sales tax revenue.
A 2020 special purpose sales tax provides $1.2 million for the Dalton-Whitfield County Public Library, which will unlock another $2 million in funding from the state. The library will use that money to, among other things, add 1,500 square feet and renovate another 1,500 square feet of the 33,648-square-feet building.
A 2015 special purpose sales tax contained $500,000, matched by $1.7 million in state library construction grants, that was used to install a new roof on the library.
Jensen said increasing operating funds for the library is "complicated" for two reasons.
First, he noted the library isn't funded solely by the county but by the local school systems and cities as well.
According to the Northwest Georgia Regional Library System, in fiscal year 2021 Whitfield County provided $304,275 in funding; the city of Dalton, $259,900; Cohutta, $750; Tunnel Hill, $1,000; Varnell, $3,000; Dalton Public Schools, $5,000; and Whitfield County Schools, $1,000.
Dalton Mayor David Pennington said he would be reluctant for the city to increase library funding unless the county does as well.
"In most places, it's the county that funds the library," he said.