History of the Nancy Guinn Library
The Nancy Guinn Memorial Library was founded by the Conyers Civic League on February 2, 1919, when League members adopted a resolution for providing a county public library. This was in response to the local School Board who had asked the Civic League for help in establishing a library in the Conyers Public School. The school had been re-built immediately after a fire in 1915, and it needed a library in order to be accredited by the State of Georgia. The library was to be used by both the students and the community.
Mrs. Nancy Graham Guinn was co-founder and first President of the Conyers Civic League for seventeen years. Under her leadership, League members held many fund raisers in support of the new library. They held book showers, a community spelling bee, fairs, and bazaars. In 1920 a committee was established to purchase five hundred volumes. The committee met with State Librarian Mrs. Beverly Wheatcraft to choose the titles. Mrs. Fannie Freeman was appointed as the first Librarian.
After Mrs. Guinn’s death in 1921, the Library was named the Nancy Guinn Memorial Library in memory and recognition of Mrs. Guinn’s guidance, support and effort in establishing the first local public library.
The enthusiasm and leadership of Nancy Guinn and the early members of the Conyers Civic League served as a model of commitment that has continued to benefit residents of Conyers and Rockdale County through the years. The Conyers Civic League has remained active it its support of the library, assisting in the implementation of new projects and services for the community.
The site upon which the library now stands was once the home of Miss Sally Fanny Gleaton, a notable suffragette and the first female pilot in Georgia.
Today the Nancy Guinn Memorial Library houses 115,761 books, audiobooks, DVDs, CDs, and other material. The library is centrally located in Old Town Conyers, at 864 Green Street in a beautiful building which first opened in 1990. Since then, the library has undergone extensive renovation and expansion.
