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History of the Charles A. Lanford, M.D. Library

South Bibb County library services were provided by the Cochran Field Branch Library, which opened in 1961 in a former post office, and beginning in 1962, the Porter Ellis Community Center Library.

In 1969, the Westgate Branch opened to serve the people living near the Westgate Mall and in 1970, the Bloomfield Branch opened in rented space on Chambers Road. They were later combined with the South Bibb County branches to become the Rocky Creek Branch in 1972. The Rocky Creek Branch was first housed in the South Plaza Shopping Center on Pio Nono Avenue; in 1987, it moved into the Fall Line Plaza Shopping Center on Rocky Creek Road where it occupied 5,600 square feet.

During the Flood of 1994, Rocky Creek was the only library branch to suffer damage, but it was refurbished and continued to serve the area. Rocky Creek Library was expanded three times in this location but was still too small to provide adequate services.

In the early 2000s, the Macon-Bibb County Library Board of Trustees reviewed population demographics regarding South Bibb County to determine a new location for the Rocky Creek Library. Statistics showed that South Bibb County was rapidly growing; the population was shifting further south. To help secure a library for south Bibb County, Mrs. Shirley Lanford donated the land, and a joint effort by Bibb County and the State of Georgia provided the construction funds. In 2008, the Charles A. Lanford, M.D. Library, named in honor of her husband, opened in South Bibb County on Houston Road.