Early in 1969 a group of dedicated citizens, soon to become the Friends-of-the-Library, surveyed the community and found a strong desire for its citizens to have their own library.  The first library board was soon formed, with Dr. Leonard Robinson as its chairman; the other members being Dr. Joe Volker, Jack Echols, Buell Warren, and Sara Wuska.  In April of 1969 the library opened on the present site of the Vestavia Hills Civic Center, with slightly more than 7,000 books.

With the continuing support of the mayor and council, much growth has taken place since that time.  In 1995 the library moved to its present location at 1112 Montgomery Highway.  It has over 75,000 volumes, including a large print collection, 140 periodicals, local as well as out-of-town newspapers, including the Sunday New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Atlanta Constitution, Christian Science Monitor, and USA Today; 2,000 audio cassettes, compact discs and phonographs.  A strong children's department offers Story Time each Thursday morning at 10 a.m. and Pajama Story Time at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of each month.  The computers in the children's department are extremely popular as well as valuable to the young students.

An active Friends-of-the-Library supports the library in all its endeavors and has, in fact, initiated many programs, such as the Friendly Used Bookstore and the Thursday noon film.  A discussion group led by Rich Garlikov, photographer and scholar, meets on the first and third Tuesday morning of each month.  Its lively discussions have continued from the Great Books program through great speeches, and now is concerned with short stories.

Sponsored by the library, the Vestavia Hills Historical Society offers quarterly programs of interest to its residents, many of whom have had active roles in creating the history of the community.  In the Historical Room, much of the city is portrayed in pictures, particularly of George Ward's home, the temple around which the city was built.  There are interesting facets of the city's growth on display in this attractive room.  The history of Vestavia Hills has been written and its publication coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the city (1950).

As part of the Jefferson County Library system, The Vestavia Hills library becomes a part of every Jefferson County library, linked by library computers.  There are also computers for public use, both for adults and children, and a wealth of information thus becomes available to all library patrons.

Visit the Vestavia Hills Public Library web site

Visit the Birmingham Public Library web site