After more than 80 years as part of the Live Oak Public Library system, Effingham County’s libraries are preparing for a new chapter.

The county’s Rincon and Springfield library branches will officially transition from the Live Oak Public Libraries system to the Statesboro Regional Public Libraries system on July 1, a move county officials say will restore services, increase local control and save the county hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Assistant County Manager Michael King said the transition will be a long process but represents an opportunity to reexamine services after decades within the same system.

“I don’t know the last time anybody’s done a deep dive to reevaluate what’s being offered,” he said. “The Board of Commissioners is completely committed to enhancing the services … making the libraries a place people want to come to, a place people want to gather and utilize the resources that are available.”

One of the most immediate changes residents will notice is the return of normal operating hours.

Live Oak reduced hours at the Rincon and Springfield branches to 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, and eliminated Saturday service, beginning in May. King said those reductions were made without consultation with county officials or Statesboro Regional Public Libraries.

He said the current plan is to return to regular library hours, beginning July 1.

Statesboro Regional Library Director Caroline Johnson said hiring staff has been the primary focus leading up to the transition. King said Live Oak employees in Effingham County were offered positions with the Statesboro System. Only one current employee elected to transfer directly into the Statesboro Regional system.

Johnson, who has been library director since 2024, said the Statesboro Regional System is in the process of hiring about 13 people, including locally in Effingham County and regional headquarters employees based in Statesboro.

With the July 1 addition of the Effingham libraries, the regional system will consist of eight library branches: Rincon, Springfield, Claxton-Evans County Library, Metter-Candler County Library, Pembroke-Bryan County Library, Richmond Hill-Bryan County Library, Swainsboro-Emanuel County Library and the Statesboro Library.

King said transitioning to Statesboro’s system means more “local autonomy” and more equal representation in regional decision-making.

Under the Statesboro Regional system, each member county receives two seats and two votes on the regional board. Under Live Oak, Effingham and Liberty counties each had two votes while Chatham County held eight.

“Chatham always had more votes to overrule whatever Effingham or Liberty chose,” King said. “Our local board didn’t feel like they were being asked their opinion on anything."

He said the structure of Statesboro Regional gives individual counties more flexibility to tailor programs and services to local needs. This could shape future programming as Statesboro Regional plans to gather public input after taking over operations. Johnson said surveys and community feedback will help determine what programs residents want to see. Traditional offerings such as story times, craft programs and book clubs will continue, but officials want to identify additional services that meet local interests.

“We really like to work with each manager there to kind of see what their community wants,” Johnson said.

For patrons, however, the transition is expected to be largely seamless.

Georgia State Librarian Julie Walker said both Live Oak and Statesboro Regional participate in the statewide PINES network, meaning patrons will continue to have access to books and materials from libraries across Georgia.

“The patrons themselves are not going to see a whole lot of difference,” Walker said.

Residents will still be able to use PINES borrowing services and statewide resources such as GALILEO. Some digital offerings may vary between systems, but core services will remain available.

One change patrons should prepare for is receiving a new library card.

Because library cards are tied to regional systems, Effingham residents will be issued new Statesboro Regional cards beginning July 1. Patrons simply need to visit their local branch to have their accounts transferred and receive a replacement card.

“There’ll be no lag in service,” King said. “You just have to swap out and get a new card.”

Walker said library system transitions are relatively uncommon but not unusual in Georgia. She estimates at least five similar changes have occurred across the state in recent years, ranging from counties joining regional systems to moving between them.

She said she was optimistic about the partnership between Effingham County and Statesboro Regional.

“I think the Statesboro system is ready to welcome in a new county,” Walker said. “I think Effingham County is enthusiastic about library services and they’re very eager to have good libraries.”

Lucille Lannigan is a growth and development reporter for Morris Multimedia.