WLRH Radio Station

WLRH, with a call sign originally meaning "Library Radio of Huntsville" is a public radio station broadcasting from Huntsville, Alabama. It was originally funded by and treated as part of the public library when it was instituted in 1972 and positioned in the old Times Building in downtown Huntsville. Although there is no formal relationship between WLRH and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the radio station is located on the UAH campus and has been since 1988. It was moved from its original location in downtown Huntsville, due to financial and building issues.

WLRH as a radio station, now located on the University of Alabama in Huntsville campus, was founded as the first public radio station in the area and one of the few in the nation licensed to a library. Specifically, the Huntsville-Madison County Library conceived the idea in 1972 when they recognized the area needed some public broadcast system. They quickly brought their idea to fruition using $400,000 worth of investment from "the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), State Revenue sharing, and public donations."^[1] The financing of the radio station after the initial investment would be mostly covered by a citizens' group interested in supporting the public radio. Once set up in the Old Times Building in downtown Huntsville, the first broadcast of "Library Radio of Huntsville," to match their LRH call code, was aired at 2:15 PM CDT on October 13th, 1976.

Over a decade later in 1987, they began moving onto the UAH campus, a new building being constructed for their use, partially to save money, decreasing their rent from $2000 to $1700, and partially to get out of the quickly aging downtown building they used prior. Before coming to UAH, they had also been offered a location on the A&M campus. Instead, they set up a 3,000 square foot building on the south side of the UAH campus, where they reside today.

The new building was finished in January 1988, and they began broadcasting from UAH immediately upon moving in. Following the dedication ceremony, there were no major changes made to the radio station, despite it's new location, but minor changes were made to the programming including incorporating student volunteers and broadcasting performances on campus. Throughout their time on the UAH campus, they have become a central part of the local community. Although there is officially no formal relation with the school, their location on the UAH campus solidifies them as part of the community, introducing young individuals to public radio.

Ceci, Katie. "Public radio station to host dedication ceremony." Exponent (Huntsville) September 21st 1988. 3.

^[1] Conklin, Steve. "Huntsville Radio Has a New Sound." Exponent (Huntsville) December 8th 1976. 10 ed, 26 sec.8.

Dravecky III, Ed. "WLRH to begin broadcasting from campus." Exponent (Huntsville) October 14th 1987. 1.

Dravecky III, Ed. "WLRH—FM moves into new building on campus." Exponent (Huntsville) January 20th 1988. 3.

The Mission of WLRH, WLRH. Accessed June 9th 2022. https://wlrh.org/mission-wlrh.