• By J.White
  • Posted Thursday, February 28, 2019

Rural Hall Branch Library

The Rural Hall/Stanleyville Branch Public Library is located at 7125 Broad Street in Rural Hall, NC. It opened in 1982 to serve the Town of Rural Hall, northern Forsyth County and many customers from Stokes and Surry Counties. Families with children, older adults, and employees of local businesses make up the largest segment of library users. This branch serves a predominantly family-oriented, church-tied community. The branch has 10,000 borrowers and more than 45,000 books.

Currently at 7,800 square feet, the building was designed for expansion to 15,000 square feet. Of note, the facility was one of the first passive solar buildings in the state of North Carolina. When built, the south wall of the Library featured glass-faced masonry solar walls, and a skylight to provide light and warmth to the auditorium.

The Branch Manager is Julia Smith.

Branch History

On June 1, 1976, the Rural Hall Branch Library opened its doors in a storefront facility rented from Verona Kiser, located at 8114 Broad Street. The Library soon became overcrowded, but plans for a new building did not begin until 1980.

The new building became known as the Rural Hall/Stanleyville Branch Library. It sits on a two-acre tract purchased from Charles T. Wall, Sr., for $30,000. The building was designed by J. Aubrey Kirby from the architectural firm J. Aubrey Kirby Associates, Inc., at a cost of $558,515. A portion of the building’s cost was funded by a $265,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission. The balance of the construction cost was funded by voter approval in a 1974 bond referendum.

The Library officially opened on Monday, March 8, 1982, with about 10,000 books and three additional new staff positions.

In the summer of 2002, the 780-square-foot solar atrium was converted into a new Adult Reading Room housing bestsellers and periodicals.

Supervisors of this Library have included: Miriam Hawk, Karen Robertson, Tammy Baggett, Barbara Thompson, Joel White, Vivian Melvin, Jenny Boneno, Lara Luck, and Crystal Holland.

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