History

Local businessman, John F. Holden, formed a library for the use of the "Ladies of Crawfordville" in 1916. The library was deeded to Crawfordville upon Mr. Holden's death in 1936. It was his desire that "Crawfordville should have a public library where the people of the town might have an opportunity to meet in a social way and readily get books to read. I have also believed that the people of Crawfordville, especially the ladies and young people, ought to have a place convenient for the purpose of having entertainments in a social way, and it is my wish that the building be used for this purpose." The Library building was also offered for the use of the county and it is suspected that Mr. Holden recognized that a good public library would be necessary to attract business and industry to the community.

The ladies of the community were charged with the care of the library and shared the building with the Women's Club until the club disbanded in the early 1960's. The John Holden library was the headquarters library for the county with a branch in Sharon, which is no longer in operation. The library formed and adopted a constitution and by-laws in 1947 when state assistance became available.

Wilkes and Taliaferro counties joined together on September 23, 1969 to form the Wilkes-Taliaferro Regional Library with the Mary Willis Library in Washington as the headquarters. The library moved from the John Holden building to a modern brick building half a block away in 1989. The library expanded in size from 1,280 sq ft. to 2500 sq ft. providing meeting space and computer capabilities.