A New Library to Illuminate and
Anchor our Community
Public libraries make it possible for everyone– regardless of their age, race or social status–to access books that can change their lives.
Today’s libraries strengthen communities in many ways. They serve as meeting spaces, sponsor programs for the blind, offer free access to the internet, video and audio tapes. They teach literacy classes, host art and musical events and support schools. More importantly, they reflect a community’s view of itself.
Unfortunately, the Augusta Public Library does not meet the standards of a modern library or demonstrate our community’s commitment to knowledge and learning. Every day, lines of patrons wait for computers. Discussion groups, book clubs and other organizations turn elsewhere for meeting space. And irreplaceable documents that record our local history are threatened in areas not equipped to protect them.
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That’s about to change thanks to a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and the State of Georgia which have raised more than $24 million to fund a new library at Telfair Street and James Brown Boulevard scheduled for completion in 2010. The facility will triple the size of the current library and bring it into the 21st century. The designs are approved. The land is cleared. The ground has been broken.
But due to increases in the price of construction materials we are short of the funds needed to complete the library. So the Library Foundation Board, a group of area business and civic leaders, has launched a capital campaign to raise $3 million from citizens, businesses and foundations to augment the SPLOST funds. With your help, we can ensure that the library is well equipped, inviting and comfortable.
While there may be many charities worthy of your support, few will forge a more educated community and enrich the lives of generations of families as effectively as a gift to the library. Please help us build a library that will serve the needs of everyone in the C.S.R.A.
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