Books and Our Town: The History of the Rutherford County Library System

In 2023, the Rutherford County Library System will celebrate its 75th anniversary. The library's long history is chronicled here to commemorate the people and establishments that helped it flourish into the multi-branch organization of today. Beginning with a newspaper editorial by Robert Lasseter lamenting the idea that a college town like Murfreesboro had no public library, leading to the donation of $5,000 seed money from Henry T. Linebaugh, the Mattie V. Linebaugh Public Library was born. Over the past 75 years, five branches and a bookmobile were added to serve the residents of Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Eagleville, and Rutherford County, Tennessee.