Check out the Baxter Village Library, aka the Fort Mill Public Library of the York County Library System (South Carolina).
I think this is a pretty interesting situation. As I understand it, the original Fort Mill Library was in a building downtown. Roughly 10 years ago, when Baxter Village was built, the developer donated the land to the county so that they could build a new library here. The building is new and beautiful, used by the residents of this rather interesting suburban experiment as well as folks who live in neighboring areas. I have to imagine that the older building in downtown Fort Mill (a pretty cute little town) had quite a few challenges associated with its age and architecture.
I wonder if any other readers can point to specific instances of cooperation between real estate developers and public library systems similar to this situation? This seems like an interesting merger of public and private interests for the benefit of everyone involved. I know ideas like this were floating around at Brooklyn Public Library, but never came to fruition. Anybody else?
Enjoy some pics of this bright, clean library. Note the rental book section- for $2 you can get the hot items immediately, rather than wait in line. How do you feel about that arrangement?
