Ponce De Leon Branch Library to be renamed in Honor of Commissioner Joan P. Garner

The Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to rename a branch of the Fulton County Library System in memory of the late Fulton County Commissioner Joan P. Garner. The branch is located at 980 Ponce de Leon Avenue NE,  

Atlanta, GA 30306 and the name change will go into effect upon the branch’s reopening following renovations. At the time of her death, Ms. Garner was serving as the Commissioner representing District 4.

“We are proud to provide our beloved colleague with this lasting tribute at a facility that means so much to our community,” says Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts. “Our hope is that her legacy lives on through this honor.”

“I believe this is a fitting tribute to my mentor, friend, and boss, the late Commissioner Joan P. Garner,” says Fulton County District 4 Commissioner Natalie Hall. “The Joan P. Garner Library will be a public reminder of her lifelong activism and heroic leadership fighting against social injustice and fighting for human, civil, and LGBTQ rights in Fulton County.”

“I think it’s honorable that a facility be named after an honorable person such as Joan,” says Fulton County District 5 Commissioner Marvin S. Arrington, Jr. “I am proud that it will be a library in my district.”

A noted activist on behalf of the LGBTQ community and advocate for those battling HIV/AIDS, Joan P. Garner joined the Board of Commissioner in 2011, representing a district that served primarily areas of the City of Atlanta. She worked tirelessly to fight against health disparities and co-founded the Fulton County Task Force on HIV/AIDS as she championed numerous other health initiatives. At the time of her death, Commissioner Garner served as Third Vice President of ACCG – Georgia’s County Association and was the past Chair of the National Association of Counties’ Healthy Counties Initiative Advisory Board, Chair of NACo’s Medicaid and Indigent Care Subcommittee, and as Chair of the Health Policy Committee.  

“We are pleased to honor the late Commissioner Joan P. Garner with this fitting tribute,” said Library Director, Gabriel Morley.   “Commissioner Garner was a steadfast library supporter who worked to ensure residents throughout Fulton County were able to enjoy state of the art library facilities, through her support of the Library Bond Program. We look forward to re-opening the Ponce Library as the Joan P. Garner Library and celebrating her legacy with our patrons.”