Vinings Library to receive $740K facelift

By Annie Mayne

amayne@mdjonline.com

Vinings Library is set to receive a $740,000 facelift.

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to pull $300,000 from Commissioner Jerica Richardson’s 2025 capital contingency funds for the project.

The remaining balance for the revamp comes from 2022 SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) dollars, according to the county.

Richardson told the MDJ after the vote that each commissioner is given $1 million to address underfunded projects within their district. The county confirmed that this is the second year commissioners have received contingency funds, pulled from the general fund.

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The Vinings Library, Richardson said, has long been awaiting a boost.

“They are, as far as what’s been expressed to me, overdue and exciting renovations that are coming,” Richardson said.

The 8,500-square-foot, two-story library opened in 1990. The bottom floor, which houses the children’s department, received renovations in 2021 thanks to a $25,000 donation from the family of Stephen Hughes, a former Cobb Library Foundation member.

Though the building saw pipe repairs after the deep freeze of Christmas 2022, the second story that holds the adult, young adult, reference and computer services hasn’t seen an update in over three decades.

“(The) furniture has been there since day one,” said Helen Poyer, director of the Cobb County Public Library System.

Renovations will bring the upstairs into the 21st century, adding two study rooms, a conference room, improvements to the bathrooms and some general feng shui.

“Just creating flexible, functional space, making it more inviting to the people in the community ... we’re really excited,” Poyer said.

The project is scheduled to start in July 2025, and take between six and eight weeks to complete. During that time, the county said, the upstairs of the library will be closed.

Per a fact sheet from Poyer, the library serves a community of 36,000 people, 14,000 of which are card holders. Sitting on Paces Ferry Road just east of I-285, the library boasts a collection of over 25,000 books, a host of literacy programs and various cultural programs.

The Vinings branch of the Cobb County Public Library System is seen here.

Jack Lindner