In the 1930’s, White Pine Public Library was begun with a cash outlay of $.75 and was located in a large room in the now Sanitary Drug Store.  The women of White Pine did the work. Their bookcase was a discarded bread and cake rack donated by the local grocer Mr. Howard Calfee. Old license plates were bent and painted to make bookends.  Leaders in the project were Mrs. Fred Harrison and Mrs. Gladys Walker.  This club, the Jefferson County Women’s Club, was one of the first literary clubs in this part of Tennessee.
     
After a fire in the 1940’s that destroyed the drugstore and the library in it, the library was reestablished in the Jean Horner beauty shop, which was in the Alfred Sartain Barber Shop Building.

In the 1950’s, the beauty shop and library moved into the kitchen of the Allen Clinic, where it stayed a couple of years. During 1952, the library collection had left the clinic. Mrs. Ross Powers who was principal of White Pine School said that Miss Sharpless the Regional Director of Nolichucky Region at that time came with a bookmobile to the school and books for the public were chosen at that location.

By 1957 the library was located on Maple Street with Mrs. Shelton Clarke as librarian for one year.  1958, Mrs. Zula Pack was librarian and her sister Mrs. Elsie Surrett, as substitute. Mrs. Zula Pack retired in December 1973 and the Jefferson County Library Board hired Mrs. Audrey Vick. In July 1975, the library moved to a larger location in the Hardy Building, which had been a former barbershop and stayed there until January of 1985 when the library was moved to 1708 Main Street, which is its present location. The White Pine City Council purchased the building October 1984 for $31,000 and it was remodeled to fill the requirements of a library.

In November of 1992 Friends of the White Pine Public Library was organized.  Their purpose is to promote the services and encourage the use of the library. They met the first Monday of each quarter to discuss library projects, promotions etc. With the money they earn from such projects, they have been able to purchase bookshelves, copiers, computer tables, flowers for the flower boxes and many other things of value for the library’s use. In the fall of 1992 the library was expanded, more than doubling its size with 2480 square feet compared to its previous 1120 square feet. The City of White Pine provided $51,000 for the addition and has continued to support their library by allocating monies sent to the county for expenditure by the library each year.

Audrey Vick retired in March of 1996 as White Pine Library Director with Josey Capshaw as Assistant. Mrs. Capshaw retired in October 1996. The Jefferson County Library Board hired Betty Jo Moore, a life long resident of White Pine to fill this position. She has been the active Library Director since 1996 with Glenda Jones as Assistant, hired in September of 1996.   

Although technology and times certainly have changed drastically in the 70 years since the White Pine Public Library was established, two things have remained the same: the goals and plans for the Library. The continual goal for White Pine Library is to ensure courteous service, provide the community with information required for independent learning with our objectives to include identifying and responding to these needs and actively promoting library services.  

The library in White Pine is a success because of group effort and continued support from library advocates.