On Thursday evening (11/5/2015), the Linebaugh Public Library moved closer to building the second totally electronic branch in America. A county commission committee gave thumbs up to a $400,000 request. Next week it goes before the entire Rutherford County Commission.

At the November 5th Rutherford County Budget & Finance Committee meeting, members voted unanimously to recommend the brick and mortar request from Linebaugh Public Library that would help fund the proposed Community Technology Center (CTC) to be constructed on city owned property adjacent to Hobgood Elementary School, off Mercury Boulevard. It goes before the full county commission at 6:00 o'clock Thursday evening, November 12th, in the Rutherford County Courthouse.

Linebaugh Director Rita Shacklett said, "We are so very grateful to the committee for their support."

Shacklett stressed that the local library has no thoughts of doing away with printed books. The all electronic branch will only be at the Hobgood campus.

The nation's first all digital library opened two-years ago in San Antonio, Texas. Bexar County's facility, known as Biblio Tech, includes a trendy internet café, e-books, meeting rooms and more. The library there is a publicly owned library with two full branches and a planned third branch opening next year for the residents of Bexar County.

Thursday night's approval by the county' Budget & Finance Committee is the third greenlight that the Linebaugh electronic library has received.

The first yea vote was received on October 15th when the Murfreesboro City Council approved $400,000 for construction expenses. The second official support came October 27th when the County Health & Education Committee approved $400,000 to be spread over two fiscal years.

It's interesting to note that all three of these votes were unanimous.

NewsRadio WGNS will keep you informed on the progress of the proposed all-electronic branch for Linebaugh, the second in the entire nation.