Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System To Open New Palmetto Library!

The Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System is thrilled to announce the grand opening of the new Palmetto Library, which will open to the public with a celebration on Monday, December 15 at 11:00 a.m.

The new 10,000-square-foot library for Palmetto and Chattahoochee Hills is part of Phase I of the Library Building Program. The library is located at 9111 Cascade Palmetto Highway, Palmetto, GA 30268, an area not previously served by a library.

Houser Walker Architecture provided design and engineering services for the new library. New South Construction provided construction management services on this project, and Heery/Russell was the program management team.

The Palmetto Library is imagined as a series of ‘rooms’ or small buildings nestled within a semi-rural landscape. Drawing on vernacular structures from the region, it features large rooms, corresponding to the major functions of the Library. A nearby barn provided inspiration for the overall form of the building, which responds to specific views, solar characteristics, and functional requirements of each defined room. Materials used for the exterior of the library draw upon the legacy of building in the entire Palmetto/Chattahoochee Hills region, while reinforcing the civic character of the structure. The structure will age well and give a rich patina to the building as time passes. 

In November 2008, Fulton County voters overwhelmingly passed the Library Bond Referendum. The plan will greatly enhance all of the county’s libraries, and includes 8 new branch libraries: Alpharetta, East Roswell, Milton, Northwest Atlanta, Palmetto, Southeast Atlanta, Metropolitan and Wolf Creek, and two expansion projects: Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History and the South Fulton Library. The Library Building Program plan maintains 34 libraries, the current number of libraries in the system, by eliminating leased spaces and its oldest libraries. Green building design and sustainability are priorities for these library building projects, and the Library System expects to achieve LEED Silver on all of the Phase I projects.

An important part of each new library is its public art project. Through the Fulton County Art in Public Places Resolution, 1% of each building project budget goes toward the creation of public art. For the Palmetto Library, artist Andrew T. Crawford was selected through a community-driven selection process, and has produced a large steel sculpture visitors will see as they enter entitled, On a Roll. The 15-foot-long and 5-foot-wide sculpture, created entirely out of solid metal bent bars, is loosely based on the imagery of an old tractor that has been left in a field.

For more information or to R.S.V.P. please call 404-730-1977 or email zenobia.claxton@fultoncountyga.gov. To keep up-to-date on the Library Building Program or other library events, visit www.afpls.org.

Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System is the largest in the state, with 34 libraries and a collection of more than 2.5 million items. It offers innovative programs, services and virtual resources tailored to meet the needs of each branch's community. Children, teens and adults may choose from a variety of classes, visit exhibitions, listen to authors discuss their work, check out videos, DVDs and CDs, attend book club discussions, get homework help, hear music and see live performances. Last year patrons borrowed more than 3.6 million items, made 4 million visits to the libraries and our website had over 5 million hits.