Key Milestones & History
- 1974: An initial group predating the current organization formed to support the relocation and construction of the A. K. Harper Memorial Library which had been built in 1931.
- Late 1970s - 1982: The BCFOL officially organized to create community interest and raise funds for the newly built McGhee Street Library location, which opened in 1982.
- 2002: The group actively supported the library's relocation to its current, much larger facility on North Cusick Street, the old Sky City property.
- 2003: Friends holds its first book sale in the new library’s basement.
- 2007: The BCFOL began publishing its quarterly newsletter, Among Friends, to keep the community informed of library and volunteer activities.
- 2011: The Writer-in-Residence program was sponsored by the group, leading to the BCFOL publishing books of regional interest (such as the Foothills Voices and Vietnam Voices collections).
- 2019: eBay group with the Friends was organized.
- 2020: Friends of Tennessee Libraries named Blount County Friends of the Library the FOL Group of the Year.
- 2024: Friends celebrates over 50 years of volunteering, noting that over the past 20 years they have provided more than $1.3 million to the Library.
- 2025: The organization funded the addition of a new Tween Room to the Blount County Public Library. Friends continues with over 110 active volunteers contributing more than 10,000 hours annually.
