Gwinnett Library Named One Of Georgia's Most Beautiful

DACULA, GA — Gwinnett County is home to one of the most beautiful libraries in Georgia.

Gwinnett County Public Library's Hamilton Mill branch, in Dacula, has been named one of the 10 Most Beautiful Libraries in Georgia by the Georgia Public Library Service.

A panel of public library and architecture professionals reviewed the candidates this winter and, over the course of three rounds of voting, narrowed the 60 nominees down to 10.

The judging panel included Leslie Sharp, associate vice provost with the Georgia Institute of Technology and a teacher of historic preservation in the College of Architecture there, and Allyson McCarthy, architect and partner with Turco McCarthy Architecture & Design, who is a former chair of the Atlanta Urban Design Commission.

"Gwinnett County Public Library is proud to receive this honor," says GCPL Executive Director Charles Pace. "The commitment of the citizens of Gwinnett County to learning and education is reflected, in part, in the beauty of their libraries. A warm and welcoming environment helps facilitate the process of knowledge acquisition and that is definitely something you feel when you walk into the Hamilton Mill Branch."

GCPL Director of Customer Experience Michael Casey submitted GCPL’s nomination for the honor.

"Flexible space. Efficient design. Aesthetic appeal. These three ideas are the foundation upon which the Gwinnett County Public Library’s LEED Gold certified 20,000 square foot Hamilton Mill branch was designed," wrote Casey. "The entire building is a celebration of the human capacity to contemplate, question, reason, imagine and wonder at the vast universe of which we are a part."

Georgia’s most beautiful libraries will each be recognized at a 2 p.m. ceremony on Monday at the Mary Willis Library — the state’s first free library and the first in Georgia to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In chronological order, the list, released this week, includes:

• The Mary Willis Library in Washington (1888)
• The Carnegie Branch Library in Savannah (1914)
• The Washington Memorial Library in Macon (1923)
• The St. Simons Island Public Library (1937)
• The Buckhead Branch Library in Atlanta (1989)
• The Columbus Public Library (2005)
• The Hamilton Mill Library in Dacula (2011)
• The Dog River Public Library in Douglasville (2011)
• The Porter Memorial Library in Covington (2011)
• The Metropolitan Library in Atlanta (2015)

Photo via Gwinnett County Public Library