The children's area at the Germantown Community Library is now The Sharon G. Goldsworthy Children's Area, honoring the city's mayor from 1994 to 2014.

The children’s area at the Germantown Community Library now carries the name of former Mayor Sharon G. Goldsworthy. It will be known as The Sharon G. Goldsworthy Children’s Area.

Mayor Mike Palazzolo and Alderman Sherrie Hicks issued a proclamation naming the space at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting Monday, Oct. 26. The city announced it in a news release posted Oct. 30.

The Germantown Community Library Board approved the naming unanimously on Sept. 15, the city said.

Who Sharon Goldsworthy is

Goldsworthy was Germantown’s mayor from 1994 to 2014, according to the Germantown Historical Preservation Association’s list of mayors and aldermen. Palazzolo succeeded her.

The city’s release credits her with:

  • starting in public service in 1993 as a PTA leader
  • serving as an alderman, then as mayor
  • helping establish the Germantown Community Library as a permanent city library
  • forming the Germantown Municipal School District during her administration
  • securing yearly city funding for Shelby County’s Books from Birth campaign for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which the city said pushed Germantown enrollment past 90%
  • leading the move of the Tennessee Genealogical Society collection into a permanent home

She also read one-on-one with students at Germantown Elementary School for years through the Kiwanis Club “Team Read” program, the city said. After leaving office she was vice chair of the library board from 2015 to 2021.

Earlier this year she received the 2026 A C Wharton Jr. Literacy Award, according to the release.

“Mayor Goldsworthy’s passion for education and young readers helped lay the very foundation of this community,” Palazzolo said in the release. “Naming the Children’s Area in her honor ensures her incredible legacy of literacy will continue to inspire Germantown families for generations to come.”

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes for visitors. The children’s area keeps its programs. The new name is an honor, not a renovation.
  • The library is at 1925 Exeter Road. Call 901-757-7323 or check the library’s page on the city website for hours and children’s programs.
  • Imagination Library books are free. Each registered child gets an age-appropriate book in the mail every month at no cost to the family, the Imagination Library says. Sign-up details for Shelby County are on its Shelby County program page.

For more ideas for families, see our things to do in Germantown page.