History

The forerunner of Shiloh Regional Library was the field office of the Reelfoot Region established in Jackson.  Counties served from Jackson were Crockett, Decatur, and Hardin, beginning in the fiscal year 1947-1948.

In 1948-1949, three additional counties joined the Jackson field office.  They were Henderson, McNairy, and Madison.  This brought the number of counties served by the Jackson office to six (6).

In January 1949, the Cossitt Library Region (Memphis) was closed and Hardeman, Lauderdale, and Tipton counties were transferred to the University of Tennessee Junior College Region (Martin) to be given bookmobile service from Jackson.

The year 1950 again saw a change in the name of the Region.  The University of Tennessee Junior College Region became the West Tennessee Regional Library.  McNairy County withdrew from the Region and the administrative duties for the remaining thirteen counties were consolidated in Martin with the branch office in Jackson providing bookmobile service to five counties.  For the next six years, the same counties remained in the region,

In 1956, under the provision of the new regional library law, the Shiloh Regional Library was founded to serve the southwestern counties of the state.  The name for this region was borrowed from the Shiloh National Military Park located in Hardin County, one of the two original counties of which the region was composed.  The Shiloh Region was now composed of Madison, Henderson, Decatur, Hardin, Hardeman and Tipton counties.

In 1957, Haywood County joined the Shiloh Region, followed by Chester County in 1961 and McNairy rejoined the region.  Fayette county joined during fiscal year 1965-66.

The last major change in the regional program in West Tennessee was the establishment of the Forked Deer Region in 1966, with headquarters in Trimble.  Three counties were transferred from Shiloh Region to partially make up the new region:  Tipton, Haywood, and Fayette.  The Shiloh Region was composed of the seven counties which are now in the region:  Chester, Decatur, Hardeman, Hardin, Henderson, McNairy, and Madison.