{"id":469376,"date":"2025-10-02T21:03:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T21:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/469376\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T21:03:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T21:03:35","slug":"more-than-books-look-inside-the-new-downtown-library-opening-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/469376\/","title":{"rendered":"More than books: Look inside the new downtown library, opening Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The upstairs seating area in the new main library branch in downtown Wilmington. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

NEW HANOVER COUNTY \u2014 The rehabilitated downtown library branch will open again for public use after a year-and-a-half of construction. Port City Daily got a tour of the new facility ahead of its ribbon-cutting and public reception, to be held Monday, Oct. 6.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Northchase public library construction contract awarded for $9.3M<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Leading the tour was New Hanover County Library Director Dana Conners, who showed media the library\u2019s new digs, featuring two floors of collections and meeting spaces encapsulated by the building\u2019s walls of glass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more than a decade, the county has been discussing building a new downtown branch and in 2023 signed a contract to do so with Cape Fear Development as part of Project Grace. The project will redevelop the block cornered by Grace, Chestnut, North Second, and North Third streets with the new library and the Cape Fear Museum, inclusive of a planetarium, slated to open in the same building next summer. The county has put $77 million into the venture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The public will be allowed in at 2 p.m. Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have purposefully, and I\u2019ll fall on this sword, invited the entire community to join us for this ceremony,\u201d NHC Chief Communications Officer Josh Smith said at Thursday\u2019s commissioner meeting. \u201cSo it very well may flow out into the streets, it\u2019s possible, we hope that\u2019s the case, I know a lot of folks are excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Seating area in the upstairs part of the new downtown library (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

Conners\u2019 vision for the Main Library is akin to what\u2019s called a \u201cthird place,\u201d a term coined in the 1980s for informal public spaces separate from a person\u2019s home or workplace; some definitions go further in describing places that don\u2019t require a purchase of any kind. Third places have been in decline<\/a>, taking a big hit during the Covid-19 pandemic but also fanning out as younger people favor virtual spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The downtown library \u2014 considered the main branch \u2014 opened in 1981 in its original location on Chestnut Street. Conners hopes, in its latest iteration, it will serve the practical and social needs of a modern citizenry as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of people have preconceived notions about what a library is, it\u2019s either a place they enjoyed as a child or a place they can bring their children or they think it\u2019s that shush-y quiet place for old ladies to check out books but we have stuff here for everyone,\u201d Conners said, noting offerings include computer access, research databases, newspapers and magazines, and programming spanning all age groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The new adult books section at the front entrance of the new main library branch. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

Though most important, Conners said, the library serves as a place of communion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know in today\u2019s society it can be very difficult and loneliness is a big thing; here you can come and can meet other people without any expectation of having to buy anything or be a part of something else,\u201d Conners said. \u201cYou can come in here and just meet like-minded people \u2014 or not like-minded people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In its agreement with the county, Cape Fear Development also is purchasing from the county the acreage where the library formerly was located at a minimum of $3.5 million<\/a>; the property transfer is set to occur in November. The development team has not yet announced explicit plans for the parcel, though it\u2019s anticipated to be mixed-use projects, inclusive of housing and commercial.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The circulation desk at the New Hanover County\u2019s new main library branch. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

Project Grace\u2019s cost to the county \u2014 originally $60.5 million but extended due to inflation \u2014 was initially opposed by the Local Government Commission and the former state treasurer, Dale Folwell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been any number of difficulties and travails that we had to work through and here we are about to open one half of this very wonderful, purpose-built facility,\u201d Commissioner Dane Scalise, who came onto the commission in April 2023, said at Thursday\u2019s commissioner meeting.<\/p>\n

Chair Bill Rivenbark replied with a chuckle \u201cyou just don\u2019t know what we went through.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

County manager told commissioners, despite the nine commissioners that have spanned the Project Grace timeline, all votes on it have been unanimous.<\/p>\n

After entering through the Grace Street doors, visitors will pass the circulation desk and either head to the first floor\u2019s children collection or upstairs to the adult and teen shelves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The magazine and newspaper area upstairs in the new main library branch. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

The first floor contains book holds and large print selections, along with the entire children\u2019s collection fit with its own seating areas and a programming room. Aside from the collection, the ground floor has a multipurpose room for county and library events \u2014 one coming up is the November Cape Fear Book Festival, to be held Nov. 15 and Nov. 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Upstairs is the adult and teen collections, inclusive of a teens-only room with lounge seating and gaming consoles, along with another circulation desk, and more seating areas. The library has a dedicated room for local history and archives for public access with staff assistance, as well as study areas. There are four small rooms dedicated to the public on a first-come-first-served basis for two-hour allotments of time. A small and large conference room can be reserved by nonprofits for $5 a session or used by the library and county.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conners shared the collections are more streamlined than what was in the previous building. The former location closed on Aug. 4 to prepare for the move; Conners said staff used this time to weed out material, particularly outdated nonfiction titles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The library has the second-largest elevator on the East Coast, according to Library Director Dana Conners. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

Much of the seating area is situated near the building\u2019s massive windows, which have been designed with glass printed with ink, which contains ultra-small ground glass particles, also known as \u201cfrit.\u201d The design\u2019s purpose is three-fold \u2014 to reduce bird collisions with the windows, to help cool the building and ease the burden on its solar panels, and because it looks like the pages of a book.<\/p>\n

Conners said the library has room to evolve, with flexibility top-of-mind. For example, the shelving for the children\u2019s books are all on wheels to allow for quick relocation, though she said the adult shelves could also be repositioned if ever needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cLibrary services do change a lot,\u201d Conners said. \u201cIn the time we were in the old building, from 1981 until we left this year, think about all the changes that have happened in the world \u2014 the internet was not a thing when we moved in to that building, people didn\u2019t need electricity to charge their phones, publishing was a very different field back then.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The local history room, housing the library\u2019s archives, at the new main library branch. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

Staff are now tasked with a lot more than checking out books. Conners, an e-reader herself, said the library can help visitors download free ebooks they can get through the library. She also said her staff is exploring how artificial intelligence can help their operations; she said they can\u00a0 help connect students and researchers with reputable databases rather than depend on AI bot ChatGPT.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the library will continue to have a social worker on staff; anyone in need of services outside library staff\u2019s purview can be connected with her. It\u2019s a service unique to downtown\u2019s main library branch, implemented around the time the county commissioners passed an ordinance banning camping and loitering on county property. The former library has been a popular congregation site for people experiencing homelessness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conners noted the library can also help those seeking a job with applications. It still has several open desktop computers, but has added six laptops to be used anywhere on the library\u2019s campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe library\u2019s a great place to come and be and work and see other people \u2026 go to classes, use resources that I otherwise might not have access to,\u201d Conners said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Below are additional photos from the library tour. <\/p>\n

\"\"The children\u2019s collection, as viewed from the library stairs. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"The large print collection. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"The children\u2019s collection. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"Seating in the children\u2019s collection. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"The children\u2019s collection. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"The children\u2019s programming room. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"A portion of the adult collection. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"The circulation desk upstairs in the new Main Library. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"Desktop computers and more seating upstairs in the library. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"Library Director Dana Conners demonstrates the compact shelving used in the library\u2019s local history room. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"The teens-only room in the new Main Library. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"One of the four meeting rooms upstairs in the new library. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"The building\u2019s windows are designed with fritting to deter birds and heat; Conners also said they were designed to look like book pages. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"The multi-purpose room for county and library events, downstairs in the Main Library. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

\"\"The adult collection in the new Main Library. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan)<\/p>\n

Have comments or tips? Email\u00a0info@portcitydaily.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe\u00a0now<\/a>\u00a0and then sign up for our newsletter,\u00a0Wilmington Wire<\/a>, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The upstairs seating area in the new main library branch in downtown Wilmington. (Port City Daily\/Brenna Flanagan) NEW…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3938],"tags":[3444,77,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-469376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115306602541557445","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}