April 8, 2025

Behind each second-floor framed window at the new University City Regional Library, there is a lounge chair. Nearly every chair is filled most hours of the day, says library system CEO MT Turner.

And that excites him. A public enterprise serving its public. Expanding its reach to be within a short distance of an ever-growing number of Mecklenburg residents. (Did you know that 10 more neighborhood libraries and other facilities are in the planning stages?)

In 90 minutes of formal meeting and another half-hour chatting with Forum participants afterward, Turner and five of his colleagues offered a snapshot of the library’s collection, its multiple services and educational programs, and a few updates for newcomers (reopening of uptown’s Main Library likely in early 2027; no fees for late book returns). Equally important, the team fielding questions displayed a collaborative culture that is likely to put at ease people walking into branches for the first time.

In a time of book bans and mandates to cut public services, Turner signaled a steady hand focused on staying true to the system’s core values of learning, openness, respect, inclusion and leadership, and wise use of its $53.7 million annual budget. If the community is besieged by a recession, of course, that outlook will be put under book-spine-breaking strain.

Carolina Room Manager John O’Connor made a special plea for residents to let him know in what attic or basement to find paper copies of The Charlotte Post newspaper published before 1974. No copies from between 1878 and 1973 have thus far been preserved and digitized, a massive (and illustrative) example of acquisition oversights that in the past shaped many Charlotte institutions.

Below this morning’s video are the slides from Mr. Turner’s presentation. The full group of slides may be downloaded as a PDF file here.