Libraries in Columbiana

The Story of the Library in Columbiana

Public library service in Columbiana traces back to the founding of the Shelby County Library, which held its formal opening on November 15, 1940, with Mildred B. Harrison hired as its first professional librarian. In its early years the headquarters library moved between temporary quarters — a storage room and an empty office in the county courthouse and space in the Columbiana recreation center — before a permanent building was constructed in 1964 to house both the Shelby County Library and the Columbiana Public Library.

The regional system was created in 1984 through the efforts of Mildred B. Harrison, a long-time chair of the Shelby County Library board and of the Alabama Public Library Service, who served on the Harrison Regional Library Board for more than 50 years. In 1985 the county library was officially renamed in her honor as the Mildred B. Harrison Regional Library, which today serves as the headquarters coordinating the county's member libraries.

About Public Libraries in Columbiana

Columbiana is served by the Columbiana Public Library and the Mildred B. Harrison Regional Library, both at 50 Lester Street and both part of the Public Libraries of Shelby County (the Harrison Regional Library System). The Harrison Regional Library is the system headquarters that coordinates the county's network of member libraries. Any Shelby County resident can get a free library card that works at every member library, unlocking print books, audiobooks, movies, computers and Wi-Fi, children's and adult programs, and free access to the statewide Alabama Virtual Library.

The Alabama Virtual Library gives every Alabama resident free, 24/7 online access to a core of licensed research databases — full-text magazine and newspaper articles, encyclopedias, and reliable resources for students and lifelong learners — at no cost from home with a library card or school login.

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