If this nation is to be wise as well as strong...then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries.
     J. F. Kennedy, 1960
     Full Quote

Steele Creek Library Association


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Make Your Tax-Deductible Donation Today!

Library News

Views of the Building Exterior and Floor Plan

Public Library Web Site

Board of Directors
 
The Mystery Book Club meets at the library on the first Thursday of each month at 11:00 a.m. and is looking for new members. To sign up an find out what book they're reading this month, contact the library at
704-588-4345.

 

  


Library Garden Filled with Plants
 (See Story)

 

 


 

Library Fund Drive raises $93,000.
Enhancements make Steele Creek Library
the envy of the system.  (See Story)

Come see YOUR new library at
13620 Steele Creek Road

Find your pot of gold at the Steele Creek Library.
(Mosaic of two photos taken March 29, 2005.)

Features of the new 15,000 sq. ft. facility include:

  • The Children’s Library, which has it’s own computers and programs for children’s use only. There is a greatly expanded children’s book section along with DVDs, videos and other items for use by children. It has a garden theme and features a gazebo and a central pergola where the PCs are located.
  • A separate area for youth where they have their own computers with programs to assist with homework and an enlarged collection of reference and other books.
  • Many computers! Instead of the two computers that the old library had, there are be 30 computers available for public use.
  • A “Quiet” Room available for study.
  • A small conference room for meetings of up to 10 people.
  • A community meeting room that will accommodate 50 people.

Location:
13620 Steele Creek Road
Charlotte, NC 28273
(704) 588-4345

Web Site: Steele Creek Library web page

Email: Steele Creek Library email

Hours of Operation:
9am - 9pm Monday - Thursday
9am - 6pm Friday - Saturday

Manager: Elly Tomlinson

The Steele Creek Library Association has donated two statues to the library.  Volunteers have planted shrubs, perennials, and bulbs in the Children's Garden. Look for a profusion of color this spring.
 

 

Charles Brown, Director of Libraries for the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, and Elly Tomlinson, Steele Creek Library Manager, at the Donor Reception on August 6, 2004		  
Ribbon cutting on Opening Day, August 7, 2004


Library patrons line up to check out books on
Opening Day


Opening Day visitors admire the computers at the pergola in the Children's area
   

Linda Blackwelder of the Steele Creek Library Association and Elly Tomlinson, Steele Creek Library Manager		  

Link to MORE PICTURES of the Library Opening, August 6 and 7, 2004. (Photographs courtesy of Chris Hunt.)
     


Click on either of these images
to see more snapshots of the
library under construction.

 
Avery Price, Manager of the Bi-Lo of Steele Creek (left center), presents a check for $4,160 to Doug Youngblood of the Steele Creek Library Association. Bi-Lo matched donations made by shoppers during a fund drive at the store last spring. On the left is Emily Nanncy, Assistant Manager of the Library, and on the right is Terry Van Dyke, Circulation Manager. On the shelves behind them are various storybook characters and books about them, which were purchased from donations to the Steele Creek Library Association.

 

 

 		 The Steele Creek Library Association has received a $5,000 donation from Crosland, developers of Planters Walk, Withers Grove, and Lions Gate residential communities; Whitehall Commons and Steelecroft shopping centers; and Whitehall Office/Industrial Park in Steele Creek.
 

Chris Graham of G4 Reality presents a check to Doug Youngblood, President of the Steele Creek Library Association. Chris had pledged to match donations made at the annual Steele Creek Residents Association meeting in February 2004 up to $1,000. The attendees came through, and between them and Chris, the Residents Association raised over $2,000 for the library fund that evening.

Chris and Doug are standing in front of the pergola in the children's section during the library's construction. The pergola has stations for eight computers.
 

 

Tom Waters with Provident Development, which developed Huntington Forest on Steele Creek Road, hands Linda Blackwelder a $5,000 donation to the Steele Creek Library Fund.
 

   On Thursday February 19th, Alan Harrington of Crescent Resources, presented Linda Blackwelder with a check for $5,000 for the new Steele Creek Library Fund. Mr. Harrington thinks the additional enhancements of the new library will be an asset to the community. Crescent Resources is starting the development of "The Sanctuary" at Island Pointe on Lake Wylie.

Make Your Tax-Deductible Donation Today!

The Steele Creek Library Association has been raising funds for enhancements to the new Steele Creek branch library since early 2003. The group's goal was to raise a minimum of $100,000 to supplement purchases of books, computer equipment, and other enhancements to the children's area; media equipment for meeting rooms; business references; and other improvements. This goal has been met and the Association has been making purchases for the new library. Library staff are still  evaluating their needs, and the Association will be filling in the gaps over the next few months.

The Association continues to accept funds to maintain an ongoing endowment fund.
 

HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATION
 

The Steele Creek Library Association was formed in 1992 to encourage county officials to locate a new library in the Steele Creek community and to support the library's collections and programs. Because of growing population, the community needed a library closer than the one in Pineville.

After many hours of meetings with county officials and a fund raiser, the new library opened in 1994 in temporary space in the Steele Creek Commons Shopping Center. Plans called for moving to a permanent location within ten years.

  

We now are seeing the results of the hard work done by those early supporters. Our new Steele Creek Library is open on Steele Creek Road (Hwy 160) near York Road (Hwy 49) in front of the new Southwest Middle School. The location is on the site of the old home of Dr. John Knox, who was a country doctor in Steele Creek from 1880 until his death in 1911. This home had a very large library. Dr. Knox had two sons that graduated from Davidson College and two daughters that graduated from Queens College, and all were avid readers. The new location couldn’t be more appropriate.
 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Tax deductible donations are still being accepted. Please make checks payable to Steele Creek Library Association and send them to
 
  Steele Creek Library Association
PO Box 38218
Charlotte, NC 28278-8218		    


If you have any questions about the Association, please contact Linda Blackwelder at 704-588-6575, or send an email to libraryassociation@steelecreekresidents.org

If you have questions about the Steele Creek Library, its services, or volunteering, contact the library by selecting the email link on the Steele Creek Library web page.

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News stories from the Steele Creek Residents Association web site:
 
  • Library Garden Club to Have First Meeting on Tuesday, January 9 (1/3/2007)
  • Steele Creek Neighbors Complete Planting in Library Garden (8/31/2006)
  • Library Garden Planting is August 26 - Volunteers Needed (7/30/2006)
  • Summer History Series at Steele Creek Library (5/6/2006)
  • Help Plant the Children's Garden at the Steele Creek Library (3/23/2006)
  • Come Help in the Library Garden on March 4 (2/20/2006)
  • Community Support Provides Extras for Steele Creek Library (5/10/2005)
  • Kickin’ It Up with Puppets at Steele Creek Library (3/11/2005)
  • New Mystery Book Club is Looking for Members (12/10/2004)
  • New Steele Creek Library is Now Open (8/14/2004)
  • New Library Grand Opening Will be on August 7 (7/1/2004)
  • Library Association is Now Collecting Books for Upcoming Book Sale 6/21/2004)
  • Watch for New Library Grand Opening This Summer (5/28/2004)
  • Donate to the New Library at Bi-Lo through June 9 (5/25/2004)
  • New Library Taking Shape (3/28/2004)
  • Schools, Community Initiatives, and Development Highlighted at Annual Association Meeting (2/29/2004)
  • Observer Highlights Steele Creek Library Association (12/8/2003)
  • Steele Creek Library Fund Drive Begins (11/5/2003)
  • Supporters Organize Fundraising Effort for Enhancements for the New Steele Creek Branch Library (5/7/03)

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    Here are views of the  front and back of the library building and a floor plan. (While the floor plan generally is correct, the final furniture layout does not match this plan.) Click on either image below for an enlargement. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these PDF images.

    Download free Acrobat Reader

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    		   Snapshots

    Click on the picture to see a page with snapshots of the new library under construction

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    Visit the New Steele Creek Branch Library Page on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library Web Site.


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    Location of new library:

    Below is an aerial photograph taken in 2002 before the library was built. This was available through Mecklenburg County's Property Ownership Land Records Information System, or POLARIS. (The site now has photographs taken in 2007 that show the library.) This view shows the intersection of Hwy 160/Steele Creek Road (generally running north/south) and Hwy 49/York Road (generally running northeast/southwest) in Lower Steele Creek. The large, odd-shaped building near the top of the photograph is the new Southwest Middle School. The rectangular plot between the school and Steele Creek Road is the site of the new Steele Creek Branch Library. The map in the upper left shows a blue rectangle at the location of the photograph within southwest Mecklenburg County.

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    Steele Creek Library Association Board of Directors for 2008

    Chris Graham, President
    Dave Wiggins, Secretary
    Ann Mason, Treasurer
    Linda Blackwelder
    Kelley Crawford
    Gray Little
    Jeanne Peek
    Diana Quin
    Al WInget
    Doug Youngblood

    From Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations.  1989.

    If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all—except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.

    Senator JOHN F. KENNEDY, response to questionnaire, Saturday Review, October 29, 1960, p. 44
     

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    Visit the Steele Creek Residents Association Web Site

     

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