A gathering room at the Gilmer County Library was dedicated to a local couple who were heavily involved with getting the library’s current location built.
The Ellijay-Gilmer County Library Foundation dedicated that area in the building’s lower level to Lex and Anne Rainey during last week’s meeting of the library trustee board.
Lex, a former GHS principal, county schools superintendent and library board member, and Anne, a retired teacher and former library board member, accepted a commemorative plaque from Patrick McVey, library foundation president, which was later hung next to an entrance to the room.
“There were many phone calls and hours spent doing what they do. We can’t thank them enough for their years of dedicated service to the library and education in Gilmer County,” said McVey.
Opened in 2008, the current library was a project several years in the making. Moving from the former location on Dalton Street that currently houses Dalton State College, to the new, larger facility on Calvin Jackson Drive allowed the library to offer not only an expanded selection of reading material, but also more educational programs and free public events.
Accepting the dedication, Lex said he and Anne “appreciate this, and it’s very kind of y’all to do. We have enjoyed working with the library over the years. A good day’s work went into getting this library (built). You’d have to thank lots of folks, not just us.”
Lex said he got involved with the local library through head librarian Ruth Hamrick, who managed the facility for many years.
“She started this in the late 1980s, and it’s moved on from there,” he said about the nonprofit library foundation, which Hamrick organized.
Mitchell Morgan, a current trustee board member who was also involved with the library building effort, also remembered being recruited by Hamrick.
“If you knew her, when she called you, it didn’t matter what time of day it was, you stopped everything else and said, ‘Yes, Mrs. Hamrick, I think I’ll be able to do that. Can you give me just a little bit of time?’ That’s the way things got done back then,” Morgan said.
About Lex’s involvement in the building project, Morgan said he could always be counted on, especially in a pinch.
“When we built this, there were three or four problems — one big problem and three or four little crises. I would call him, and he’d say I can do this or that or we’ll do this. When you’ve got people like that working with you, it really makes a difference,” Morgan said.
The library’s basement, where the dedication occurred, has been a place of much activity since being renovated and opened for various uses a few years back. In 2022, a discovery space located there was named in honor of Anita Summers, former library manager and Sequoyah Regional Library System director, who’s now a library board member.
Summers, who was manager when the current library was built, said the dedication to the Raineys is well deserved.
“The presentation was supposed to be a surprise for them, although they probably know something is up since we invited them to the meeting,” she said. “Lex is no longer on the foundation board, but he served as its president for many, many years. Anne headed up the fundraising for the current library building and worked tirelessly raising money for our special fund, which took us through a lot of things. We really appreciate that.”
The conference room will be used as a creative, flexible area for the community to use as a meeting and learning space, noted Alexander Thomerson, Gilmer library manager.
“We hope to continue to grow our community offerings and technology services, and this room will play a part in that. We are grateful that the Ellijay-Gilmer Library Foundation has dedicated the room in honor of Lex and Anne Rainey. We would not have our exceptional community library without their generous service over the years,” he added.