Prior to the establishment of the Lee County Library, the City of Tupelo and Lee County were served by a number of different private library associations and by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s. The earliest of these libraries opened to the public in 1885, when the Franklin Square Library Association opened its doors on Main Street in downtown Tupelo. The Franklin Square Library was a commercial enterprise that provided library service to the residents of Tupelo and Lee County, unique to the way we think about libraries today, but more widespread in an era before public funding for libraries was commonly practiced.

The Franklin Square Library served the City of Tupelo for several years, before being replaced by a variety of private non-profit organizations that provided library services to the community. These included the School Improvement Association (1916), the Tupelo Library Association (ca. 1920), Miss Edmunds’ Library (ca. 1929), and the Lee County Library Association (1935). The Lee County Library Association eventually succeeded in establishing the first publicly-funded library in the county, working in conjunction with the WPA. By the time the WPA ceased operations in 1943, the Lee County Library Association had received its first allocation of public funds from the Lee County Board of Supervisors.

Public support was not the only source of funding that the library relied upon. In 1940 and 1941, several Home Demonstration Clubs organized cake and quilt sales, and local schoolchildren picked cotton to raise extra money for the library. Local businessmen leveraged their influence and financial resources to construct the very first bookmobile, which was assembled at the National Youth Administration shop, a federally-funded apprenticing garage. Then on May 1, 1942, the finished bookmobile—nicknamed “Eve”—took its first trip, traveling to the town of Saltillo in recognition of Saltillo residents who had donated the very first funds to the bookmobile project during the 1940-1941 fundraising drive. The Lee County Library Bookmobile became the very first bookmobile to operate in the State of Mississippi, and has been in continuous service ever since.

In 1957, the Itawamba County Board of Supervisors contracted with the Lee County Library to provide library services to the residents of Itawamba County. By taking this step, the Lee County Library became a regional system known as the Lee-Itawamba Library System, and in May 1957 established a public library in Fulton. Known initially as the Itawamba County Library, the library changed its name to the Itawamba County Pratt Memorial Library in 1992 in recognition of G. C. Pratt, whose family donated property for the library’s expansion.

Today, the Lee-Itawamba Library System is a two-county public library system serving a combined population of 106,721 local residents. In addition, the system offers library cards to individuals currently residing throughout the State of Mississippi. The system is also a member of the Mississippi Library Partnership, administered by Mississippi State University, which connects local patrons to over 3 million items and 68 other libraries across the state.