The Shelbyville-Bedford County Public Library serves residents in Bedford County, Tennessee. Established in 1948 by the Veteran of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary, what was known as the Bedford County Memorial Library was once housed in the unused passenger waiting room of the SC&StL Railway depot. Although The American Legion Auxiliary worked to initiate a library in the 1930s, records indicate it was burned in the courthouse fire of 1934. In 1964, when the General Services Administration provided use of the former post office as a public library, the remodeled building was named in honor of a dedicated supporter of The American Legion Auxiliary’s original efforts to form a library, Argie Cooper. In 2014, what is now the Shelbyville-Bedford County Public Library broke ground for its own home where it currently stands.

Today, the Shelbyville-Bedford County Public Library has become a valuable resource for residents offering a vast digital collection including audiobooks, e-books, DVDs, magazines, movies, and TV shows in a variety of formats. The library circulates thousands of items a year and has librarians skilled in local resources and all aspects of reading for pleasure and research. Free to the public are multiple computers and Wi-Fi available. The Children’s and Teen departments feature weekly activities for all ages. The library offers local history archives, an extensive historical newspaper collection, and information helpful in researching genealogy.