Mission Statement:
The mission of the Stanly County Public Library is to provide enriching environments where educational, cultural, recreational,and informational services and people connect.

History:
The Albemarle Woman's Club began a library in 1915 that was presented to the town of Albemarle in 1916. The Woman's Club purchased the private library of John C. Wright to begin their collection. From 1916-1919 many activities were held to raise funds for the library. It became the Stanly County Public Library on July 1, 1927, and was housed in the Albemarle Hotel. In 1939, the library was moved to a new county building adjacent to the courthouse. This building, now torn down, was located where the Colonnade for Courthouse Square Park now stands at the corner of Main and Second Streets in Albemarle. A color print commemmorating this building was done by Roger Thomas, a local artist, in 1996.

The first Badin Library opened in 1939, Norwood Branch and Oakboro Station opened in 1940 and in 1945, a branch in Kingville was begun. The bookmobile began operation in 1947.

The current Main library in Albemarle was completed in 1972. The library operated the bookmobile until September 13, 1993, when it was retired. The Locust Branch Library was opened soon after that, with much of the collection from the old bookmobile.

The library has been a department of county government since 1975 and is governed by the Board of Commissioners. The Library Board of Trustees is an advisory board appointed by the Commissioners to represent various geographical areas of the county.

The library in 2002 consists of a Main library, four branch libraries, extension services provided by a library van and a web site for electronic access to library resources.