Growing Wake towns would get new, improved libraries if voters approve bond proposal

Right now, one in five people in the county has a library card. They checked out nearly 11 million items in 2023.

Athens Drive is one of the locations that would get a new library to replace the existing one.

Two parts of the county would get their first libraries.

This is part of a bond referendum the county could put on the ballot this November.

"When we first started talking about it, my kids were in grade school, and now they’re in their 30s," Currin said. "If you’ve got a town with kids growing, you need a county library for them to go to."

About $80 million would go toward renovations at several locations, including the library at Athens Drive and the county's smallest location in Wendell.

The library in Fuquay-Varina would get a nearly $12 million expansion.

Granville Street Colored Library an important touchstone for Black history in Oxford

"We’ve got a top shelf library system, and we want to keep it that way," Calabria said.

It's been 17 years since the last library bond was on the ballot.

"If we don’t get these projects in now, it may be a long time before we’re able to do this again," Calabria said. "So, we want to make sure we get it right and have the facilities we need."

County commissioners will decide which projects make it on the bond in April or May.

That's when we'll know how much it would cost taxpayers.

If the library bond ends up on the ballot and voters approve it, you wouldn't start paying for these projects until July 2025.