all residents, but it was available only to whites. The building was constructed with the aid of a Carnegie library grant. The library became a department of the Gainsville municipal government in 1949. It was not until 1953 and opening of the Carver Branch Library that the city's African Americans had access to a library, as public facilities were still segregated. The Carver Branch closed in 1969, after the main library's desegregation. In 1958, the city of Gainesville and Alachua County agreed to jointly operate the library for the county. Branch libraries opened in High Springs, Hawthorne, and Micanopy the next year, and a bookmobile was put into service. Alachua County joined with Bradford County to operate the Santa Fe Regional Library. After Bradford County withdrew from the Regional Library, the Alachua County Library District was formally established in 1986. The Millhopper and Tower Road branches opened in 1992, and the branches in Alachua, Archer, Newberry, and Waldo were all opened by 1997. The Library Partnership Branch opened in 2009, and the Cone Park Branch in 2011. A new, permanent location for the Cone Park Branch Library opened near the Eastside Community Center in Gainesville on December 14, 2013. Transportation Major highways I-75 US 27 US 41 US 301 US 441 SR 20 SR 24 SR 26 SR 121 SR 331 Airports Gainesville Regional Airport-Gainesville Flying Ten Airport-Archer Oak Tree Landing Airport-High Springs Gleim Field Airport-Gainesville Government Voter registration As of August 31, 2022, the county had a Democratic Party plurality, with large Republican and independent minorities. Statewide elections Like many other counties containing large state universities, Alachua County regularly supports the Democratic Party. It has voted for the Democratic candidate for president in the past eight elections. The county last supported a Republican presidential candidate in 1988, when it narrowly went for George H. W. Bush. Law enforcement The Alachua County Sheriff's Office is the chief law enforcement agency for unincorporated areas of Alachua County. , the current sheriff is Clovis Watson Jr. He was preceded by Sadie Darnell, the first female sheriff for the county and cousin to Tom Petty. In June 2007, ten employees in the sheriff's office, including the jail's director, were either fired or resigned while being investigated. the sheriff's office had at least one Lenco BearCat armored vehicle and two helicopters provided by the federal government under various programs. The office received criticism after