In a sign that the long-awaited opening of the new Gritters Library is near, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, at its meeting last Tuesday, approved a $219,627.46 contract with Carithers-Wallace-Courtenay Inc. for the purchase and installation of furniture and shelving.

District 3 Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who represents the district where the library is located, said, “We had a great sneak preview today of Gritters, and it will be opening soon, and I appreciate you getting this on order.”

The library is located at 800 Shaw Park Road, within Shaw Park.

The original Gritters branch of the Cobb Public Library system opened on November 19, 1973.

Before Gritters’ opening, a nearby library was located in the rear of a fire station on Brackett Road.

The renovation of the building was included in the 2016 SPLOST, but it soon became evident that renovation of the obsolete structure was impossible, and a new building was needed.

According to the county’s August 2021 news release, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners accepted a $1.9 million grant from the Georgia Public Library Service to replace the obsolete and aging building.

In June of 2023, the old Gritters Library was closed in preparation for the new building.

The library was named after the Gritters 911th Militia District, organized in 1939, just seven years after the Georgia legislature created Cobb County.  

The origin of the name Gritters is unknown, but it’s speculated that it was named for a grist mill in the area.

About the Cobb County Public Library

According to the Cobb County Public Library website:

Cobb County Public Library is a 15-branch system headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, where its staff members serve a diverse population of over 750,000 people. Cobb is one of Georgia’s fastest-growing counties, and Cobb County Public Library is dedicated to being a resource center in the community by providing equal access to information, materials, and services.

History of Cobb’s library system

The first public library in Cobb County was opened in the home of Sarah Freeman Clarke in Marietta. The first standalone library building, opened on Church Street in 1893 and was named for Clarke.

Libraries were opened in Acworth and Austell in subsequent years, and in 1959, the city of Marietta and several other Cobb County libraries combined to form a countywide system that began the Cobb County Public Library as we know it today.

You can read more about the history of the Cobb County Public Library by following this link.