History:

The library was incorporated in 1878, and managed by a board of trustees appointed by the City Council, which allotted quarterly income. As part of a trend across the state, in 1906, the City Council turned the library over to the Woman’s Club, which set up a Library Board consisting of Woman’s Club members. The Woman’s Club then pledged support to raise money for library expenses. By that time, the library was housed in two rooms above City Hall, where it remained until 1963.[2] According to some accounts, the city renovated the “city jail and jailer’s residence in 1930, and the library moved to that location for an undetermined amount of time. However, the Mt. Sterling Library had returned to the location over city hall by 1963. [3&4]

Mrs. James Kennedy joined the Woman’s Club in 1898, and was named to the City Library Board in 1906. Upon her death, she bequeathed her home on West High Street to the Mt. Sterling Library Association, under the conditions that it would be converted into a library and remain as the library for at least 10 years. [2]

In 1981 a public library district was formed according to regulations set forth in the Kentucky Revised Statutes. Becoming a separate taxing district placed the library officially in the hands of the county’s citizens, directed by a Library Board of citizens, appointed by the County Judge Executive and approved by the state department for libraries and archives. In 1983, with a matching grant from the state library, construction began on a new library. The Mt. Sterling – Montgomery County Library moved to the current location, accessible from both Main and Locust Streets, in July 1984. The building was officially dedicated on September 30, 1984. [5]

The current Mt. Sterling – Montgomery County Library continues to display the 1931 plaque dedicated to the original 1878 City Library incorporators: Lewis Apperson, H.W. Bain, H.R. French, D.B. Garrison, James H. Hazelrigg, John Maupin, E.B. Richardson, W.T. Tibbs, and A.B. White. [6]

As the Mt. Sterling – Montgomery County Library looks into the future, there is an evident shift from the early library mission of paper based book supplier, to community information access center. A large portion of library business now involves providing patron access to computers and other technology based information, in addition to providing on-going children’s programs, author signings, and topical interest guest speakers just to name a few activities at the library. The Mt. Sterling – Montgomery County Library has a long continuous history of serving the public, with long-term plans to remain a valuable community asset far into the future.