North Carolina library celebrates 100 years of service

Postmark Pursuit by Linn’s Staff

To celebrate the centennial of its founding, the Lincoln County Public Library in Lincolnton, N.C., offered a postmark on May 3 that pictures an open book illustrating the library’s mission to “cultivate lifelong learners and facilitate connections that build community.”

The idea for a library was first conceived due to the hard work of the ladies in the local Sorosis Book Club. The club wanted to memorialize in some way the local soldiers who lost their lives in World War I. Their efforts sparked community conversations on establishing a library in the town that would bring together local book clubs and the public.

On May 2, 1925, the library opened its doors for the first time at Memorial Hall on Academy Street, establishing the repository as a community service open to all residents of the town and county, as well as a fitting way to pay homage to the local lives lost.

The first librarian of the new facility was Francis Fair who remained as its director until retiring in 1959. On May 15, 1925, the first library card was issued to resident Billy Bolingen, and in the first month of its existence, the library proved very popular because it loaned out 548 books and enrolled 400 new library members.

Over the years as the library grew, it became part of a regional library in 1948 with Iredell and Catawba Counties and then again with Gaston County in 1964. Today the library is part of the Lincoln County Library System and has more than 380,000 items in its collection, more than 50 percent of which are available in digital form.

For the library’s centennial celebration, events will be held throughout the year beginning with a 100th birthday celebration that took place May 3, 2025.

To obtain the postmark, address your request to:

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Station, Postmaster, 326 E. Main St., Lincolnton, NC 28092, May 3.

Share information by writing to Postmark Pursuit, Box 4129, Sidney, OH 45365.

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