ATLANTA – Georgia’s first black library director, LeRoy Childs, was honored at the Georgia Capitol building Tuesday as part of a weeklong celebration of the state’s librarians.
Other Georgia library luminaries were celebrated Tuesday, including the past year’s best librarians and regional system.
Childs was director of the West Georgia Regional Library System for a decade starting in the mid-1970s, according to the Georgia Public Library Service. He worked in the West Georgia system for more than 20 years prior to his promotion to director, serving in a range of roles.
Childs then became the first black president-elect of the Georgia Library Association in 1986, after a stint as treasurer. He was also appointed as a member of the state delegation on the White House Conference of Libraries by then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris.
Childs, who died in 1986, posthumously received the state library’s lifetime achievement award on Tuesday.
“Mr. Childs served tirelessly to help expand the capacity and reach of Georgia libraries and to shape national policy,” said State Librarian Julie Walker.
The state Librarian of the Year award went to Stephen Houser, director of the Twin Lakes Library System in Milledgeville. Houser shepherded the library system through a funding shortfall and locked up a grant to install internet access for the library’s rural facilities.
The Okefenokee Regional Library System was honored as the Library of the Year for its community outreach efforts. The Southeast Georgia library system was celebrated for organizing local programs to drum up interest in public libraries like arts clubs, bingo groups and LEGOs.
Clayton State Library Dean Emeritus Gordon Baker was honored as the state’s Public Library Champion of the Year. Baker worked at Clayton State for more than 15 years and has been a member of the Georgia Library Association since 1977, marking just a handful of his many civic roles in the Georgia library community.