IL Library Draws Closer to Reality

Officials hope to be receiving bids next month
By Jenny Hartley, Carolina Gateway

The permitting process has begun for the new Del Webb Library at Indian Land. Lancaster County Library Director Richard Band hopes the permitting process will be far enough along by late August or early September for the county to take bids on the project. Permits have to be obtained from S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, S.C. Department of Transportation and Lancaster County Water and Sewer District for construction.

The library will be built along U.S. 521 in the commercial development of Sun City Carolina
Lakes, called Carolina Commons. The Lancaster County Library Board met with Danny Shelley,
architect for the project on July 23. The library board unanimously approved a motion to put the project out to bid “as soon as practical.” Bids have to be advertised for 30 days, and construction bids are typically good for 60 days, as construction prices go up and down often.
Library plans Shelley went over plans for the library board during the meeting.

There will be a covered entrance to the building that enters into a lobby with a 17-foot ceiling.
Twenty spaces in the parking lot will be golf-cart only to accommodate Sun City residents,
with 46 regular car spaces and two handicapped spaces. The public meeting room and
restrooms will be accessible even after the rest of the library is closed for the day, giving
Indian Land a much-needed public meeting place.

An outdoor reading court will be a feature the other two libraries in Lancaster County don’t
have. There will be children and adult sections, a Friends of the Library gift shop, an area to
showcase Indian Land’s history, study rooms, offices, a conference room, new book area and
public access computers for adults and children. The adult section will have a cathedral ceiling.
Shelley said the angle and shape of the architecture of the building is very reminiscent of an arrowhead. “It is Indian Land, so I thought that was very appropriate,” Shelley said. “I’m real excited and I think the public will like it because you walk in and it’s not just flat ceilings.”

Library board chairwoman Karen Paulson said the look to the new library is similar to the
new Indian Land High School. Books to cost $225,000 The construction and furnishing
cost of the library is $2.2 million. Del Webb, the company developing Sun City Carolina
Lakes, contributed 2 acres and $1.5 million to construction costs. The library has received
pledges from individuals, developers, local businesses like Springs Memorial Hospital and
Founders Federal Credit Union and a $100,000 grant from the J. Marion Sims Foundation.
Lancaster County Library Director Richard Band said it will take about $225,000 to get
the library stocked with a third of its capacity in books for its opening. That’s about 12,500
books. “Actual funds on hand and our ability to process that many books could reduce this number significantly,” Band said. “Furniture, shelving and equipment is another $200,000. Assuming the Del Webb $1.5 million and funds raised so far pay for construction, we still have all of that to raise.” At full capacity, the library would hold about 40,000 books – 25,000 for adults and 15,000 for children. But the library won’t open at full capacity because it will need room for
the collection to expand.

Another festival fundraiser, Fall into Fun, is being planned for Sept. 29. The festival is sponsored by Sun City Carolina Lakes, Carolina Gateway and the Indian Land Rotary Club. Last year’s festival raised about $10,000 for the library, and this year’s festival organizers hope to
raise at least $20,000.