First look: See inside Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library’s new University City branch
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library will debut its new University City branch on Saturday, complete with more community space, technology upgrades and thousands of books.
At 38,000 square feet, the two-story facility off JW Clay Boulevard will be runner-up for the largest regional library in Mecklenburg County, second only to the Uptown campus. County commissioners unanimously approved putting $39.6 million into the project in 2022.
The library will open to the public with a daylong celebration, including puppet shows, face painting, live music and other entertainment and activities.
As crews put finishing touches on the new building and staff shelved piles of books just over a week before opening day, branch manager Debra Sharp told The Charlotte Observer it’s “hard to pick just one” favorite feature in the new library.
The design, which she and her team contributed to, is meant to provide a relaxing and inclusive space serving a variety of community needs in one of Charlotte’s fastest-growing areas.
“We’re really proud of the work that everybody did together on the project,” she said. “We love how it turned out.”
More room and more upgrades
The now-former University City library on East W.T. Harris Boulevard shut down Feb. 1, almost 32 years to the day after it opened in February 1993.
The new space brings expanded potential, Sharp said. The new library is about 13,500 square feet bigger than the old location and features two floors instead of one.
A bigger community room with its own entrance on the first floor will make hosting events and serving as a polling place on Election Day easier, Sharp noted. And the second-floor includes additional conference rooms and meeting space, making it easier to balance the library’s own offerings with sharing space with community groups.
There’s also room for public art, including a life-size sculpture of a horse called “Stella Terra” by North Carolina artist Anne Lemanski and donated to the library by art collector Fleur Bresler.
The library features technology upgrades, including desktop computers for kids, teens and adults; a collection of laptops folks can check out to use inside the facility; and a self-checkout system.
And there’s the books. The number on-site varies as materials are shared among different library branches, but the University City location will start off with about 60,000 items on the shelves, Sharp said. Among them are pre-made “Book Club Kits,” which include 10 paperback copies of popular choices for reading groups and a discussion guide.
The upgrades aren’t just for patrons.
The new library puts an end to the days of librarians going outside to collect books returned in a drop-box. Instead, materials returned via an inside drop-box and a drive-thru return window will land on a conveyor belt. That system recognizes RFID tags on the books and automatically sorts them into bins by genre.
“Once they’re sorted, staff will grab them out of the bins and can just put them on a cart and go shelf them,” Sharp said.
Space for kids and teens
More designated spaces for kids and teens were also high on the priority list for the new library, Sharp said. The library’s story times and clubs were some of the old branch’s most popular offerings. But the tight space created issues with scheduling and noise.
“We want them to feel comfortable and welcome,” Sharp said.
In the new facility, much of the first floor is devoted to kids.
Shelving intentionally designed to be eye-level for younger readers sports brightly colored book spines, and the stacks are broken up by plush furniture and interactive lights displays. There’s also a separate children’s programming room, so the library can host multiple story times many days of the week.
“We love the lights. We love the colors,” Sharp said of the design.
Upstairs, teens have their own space too.
There’s separate shelving for graphic novels and young adult literature. Another programming room includes board games, video game systems and a kitchenette, providing meeting space for clubs focused on creative writing, anime and other topics.
Part of the neighborhood
The growing University City area was a prime spot for the library to invest in a space that appeals to people of all ages, Sharp said. The area is home to UNC Charlotte and a growing residential population.
The library is part of the Waters Edge at University Place development, a 20.6-acre site that’s slated to include a lakefront park, apartments, restaurants and retail space. The area already includes the 308-unit NOVEL University Place apartment complex and Boardwalk Billy’s Raw Bar and Ribs.
The design taps into the landscaping and buzzing development, with floor-to-ceiling windows throughout bringing in natural light and views of the lake for folks working or reading in study rooms and seating scattered among the second-floor stacks.
Library staff are already prioritizing community outreach, Sharp said, such as signing up UNC Charlotte students and residents of the apartment complex next door for library cards.
The old branch averaged about 14,000 visitors a month, and Sharp is curious to see if the number grows with the new building.
“We’re really trying to meet the demands of the community and get people in here to enjoy our spaces,” she said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library new University City Regional Library
Opening day: Feb. 8
Address: 5528 Waters Edge Village Dr., Charlotte, NC 28262
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
