In 1987 the Northview Community Association established a library committee, the Northview Community Library Committee, under the direction of Janis Russell. The association had approximately $2, 000 remaining from its Homecoming ’86 activities, which they designated as “seed money” to fund a library. This committee determined that it would be in the best interests of their community not to be an independent library. On September 1, 1987, the members approached the Sevier County Library Board, which quickly agreed to co-sponsor a Northview Branch of the Sevier County Library (SCPLS Board, 1987).
The library committee researched library needs for Northview community and possible locations. The committee approached the Northview Optimist Club about locating the new library in the Northview Optimist Community Park on Dumplin Valley Road. A verbal agreement was reached for a long-term lease of $1 a year for a portion of the property. In 1990, the Optimist Club sold the park to the City of Sevierville, retaining 1.62 acres of the property at the top of a hill near the center of the park for the purpose of building the new library (SCPLS Board, 1989-1990).
In 1994 the committee designated a separate organization to carry out the library project. Dwight Shepherd worked with the Friends of Tennessee Libraries to obtain a charter for the new group, which became known as the Friends of Kodak Library (FOKL). FOKL worked with many groups to come up with plans to build the new library, and fundraising efforts went into action (Shepherd, 2004).
In 1997 the City of Sevierville asked the Optimists if they would be willing to deed the property at the top of the hill to the city in exchange for a long-term lease for the property at the bottom of the hill fronting Dumplin Valley Road. The City of Sevierville and the Optimists approached the FOKL committee with this proposal. The Friends of the Kodak Library agreed to the changes and the lease was signed in early 1998 (Shepherd, 2004).
Kodak Branch Library
In January 2001 the building committee recommended the purchase of a 3,692 square foot manufactured, modular coded building from Clayton Commercial Builders at a total cost of $106,000. This proved to be most cost-effective, as FOKL would purchase the building with available funds and open the library by the end of the year. The groundbreaking for the Kodak Branch Library was held on April 21, 2001. The new library officially opened its doors on December 2, 2001. Robin Cogdill was appointed branch manager. In August 2008 she was promoted to Sevier County Public Library System Assistant Director and Kelly Hamilton replaced her as the Kodak Branch manager (SCPLS Board, 2001, 2007).
In August 2011, John Alexander became manager for the Kodak Branch Library until April 2015 when Celia “Cee” McKnight took over as manager for the library in this community until her retirement on February 1, 2020. Today the library is a very active community gathering place, featuring a great variety of materials in its collection and programs for children, teens, and adults under the direction of branch manager Sarah Ouellette who will assume the role on February 3, 2020.
Check out the programming and events calendar for upcoming programs at Kodak for all ages!
