Northwestern Regional Library System

History

The seeds of the library service for the King area began in 1943-44 when the Woman's Club stocked the club building with books from the North Carolina Library Commission and operated a library one afternoon a week. When this service was discontinued, the community relied on the bookmobile service in the FCX building.

On April 2, 1967, The first Lula Pulliam Memorial Library, housed in the former Woman's Club building on Dalton Road, held its formal opening ceremonies. The library project was sponsored by local clubs, with the original book collection consisting of 2,000 volumes from the Northwestern Regional Library, local donations, and a small number of new purchases. In August 1969, Edith Smith was hired as the first permanent librarian. In 1970, library officials voted to name the library the Lula Pulliam memorial Library.

On April 20, 1980, the library opened in new larger quarters in what was formerly the Northwestern Bank building.

In 1994, Stokes County and the City of King committed to jointly fund a new library. A Library Services and Construction grant was awarded in June 1994. A beautiful new library opened on March 18, 1996 dedicated in honor of Mrs. Marguerite Slate Gentry and in loving memory of Mr. J. Worth Gentry. Mrs. Julie Raynor currently resides as librarian.