Roddenbery Memorial Library in the Spotlight!

Roddenbery Memorial Library is a single-site, single-county, rural library serving Grady County in southwest Georgia. Cities and towns served by the library include Cairo, Whigham, Calvary, Reno, and Pine Park. The Roddenbery Memorial Library, first known as the Cairo Public Library, opened in January of 1939. The small library was located on the second floor of City Hall and was led by an outstanding woman, Miss Wessie Connell, who possessed a strong commitment to serve the community. In 1964 the library moved into a new building on North Broad Street, a gift of the Roddenbery Family to the community. Miss Wessie was the library's director for the first 48 years until her death in 1987. "Miss Wessie" became a legend in Georgia and is well respected throughout the library world.

Pamela S. Grigg, the current director, only the fourth in the library's history, brought extensive experience in rural public libraries and a passion for providing outstanding services and relevant materials to all citizens of Grady County. She is often heard saying, "the library belongs to everyone in the county and should be a gathering place, a comfortable venue to experience, explore and engage all of our senses". From learning to read, to enjoying music, stories, newspapers, or books, all of these things and many more are accessible at the Roddenbery Memorial Library.

The mission of the Roddenbery Memorial Library is to continue our commitment to public service, assisting all individuals and groups in Grady County to attain the highest level of educational, cultural, economic and social enrichment possible.

Offering free access to Mango language programs is one of the many ways that the Roddenbery Memorial Library serves its local community. In order to promote Mango, the library staff came together wearing their Mango t-shirts (which were received as a result of Ernestine Daniels, Information desk supervisor entering the Mango promotion contest) and wished their patrons a Merry Christmas in 12 different languages. The Roddenbery Memorial Library staff has invited everyone to take advantage of this cutting-edge, language-learning program known for its user-friendliness in more than 60 different languages – all Grady County citizens need to get started is the PINES Library card.

To learn more about Roddenbery Memorial Library and its services, visit the library website at http://rmlibrary.org/