{"id":2040,"date":"2026-06-09T04:34:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T04:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2040"},"modified":"2026-06-09T04:34:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T04:34:45","slug":"a-wake-county-library-is-moving-why-officials-prefer-keeping-it-in-raleigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2040","title":{"rendered":"A Wake County Library is moving. Why officials prefer keeping it in Raleigh"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

A southwest Raleigh library needs to move, and Wake County commissioners indicated Monday they\u2019d rather keep it in the same general area, rather than move it to Cary.<\/p>\n

Read more 1,000 jobs coming to Charlotte area and NC in new Corning, Amazon data center deal<\/a><\/p>\n

The Athens Drive Library is the only Wake County public library, out of more than 20, inside a school. The county is looking for a new location for multiple reasons:<\/p>\n

In March, the commissioners directed county staff to negotiate a price for a 2.6-acre site on Athens Drive about a quarter-mile north of the library\u2019s current location for a replacement library.<\/p>\n

The owner of the property, called the Well Fed Community Garden, originally asked for about $1.8 million. The county’s assessed value of the property is $1.2 million. After negotiating, the county got the price to just under $1.6 million.<\/p>\n

There also is property at 5417 Tryon Road in Cary \u2014 more than 2 miles southwest of the current library. It\u2019s about 12 acres and is owned by Wake County Public Schools. It\u2019s considered surplus land.<\/p>\n

Both sites have their proponents and critics.<\/p>\n

Jacobs said the Well Fed Community Garden property is small, making it difficult and expensive to develop. It also would be a two-story library with no room for expansion, and two-story libraries are more expensive to build.<\/p>\n

Wake County had not figured out what a potential acquisition of the land from the school system would take, but a land swap was potentially in the cards, according to Jacobs<\/p>\n

The site \u201ceasily accommodates future expansion and other uses, including affordable housing, according to a county presentation says.<\/p>\n

The commissioners will officially vote on the library\u2019s location at a future public hearing in the commissioners\u2019 chamber in the Wake County Justice Center.<\/p>\n

Commissioners Susan Evans and Vickie Adamson said during a Monday work session that they prefer the Tryon Road location.<\/p>\n

Both sites are within the district Evans represents as a commissioner. But she prefers the Cary location because it has more space to potentially expand the library in the future.<\/p>\n

Adamson said she likes that the Cary location is close to several elementary schools, where it can further aid students.<\/p>\n

But the rest of the commissioners support keeping the library on Athens Drive.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Tara Waters said the Well Fed Community Garden site is closer to more people. Just under 100,000 people live within a 10-minute drive of the Tryon Road location, compared to 125,000 within a 10-minute drive of the Well Fed Community Garden.<\/p>\n

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Raleigh City Council member Jane Harrison, who represents southwest Raleigh, has spoken against the library moving to Cary, which she said would serve a wealthier and less diverse population.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Census tract that includes the Cary site has a higher population \u2014 4,600 people compared to the Athens Drive area\u2019s 4,000. A census tract is a small division of land that the U.S. Census Bureau tracks population statistics within.<\/p>\n

The Cary location\u2019s census tract is 73% white, according to census data, compared to 62% white around Athens Drive.<\/p>\n

The Athens Drive area has roughly an 18% poverty rate to the Cary area\u2019s roughly 3%. And the median household income in that part of Cary, at almost $180,000, is nearly double what it is around Athens Drive.<\/p>\n

And while bus routes run very close to the proposed Cary location, the site is farther from a bus stop, Harrison said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is almost a half-mile walk to the bus stop on Jones Franklin Road which only connects the site to Cary, not the Raleigh community that Athens Drive Community Library currently serves,\u201d Harrison wrote in an email to The News & Observer. \u201cIt requires walking across 6-8 lanes of traffic on a busy road to get to the nearest bus stop. It is not walkable to neighborhoods. While there may be a sidewalk, this is not a safe nor enjoyable area for pedestrians.\u201d<\/p>\n

GoTriangle, which operates regional bus service, is realigning its route 305 in August to stop about two-thirds of a mile from the Cary site on Tryon Road, according to Jacobs. The route travels between Raleigh, Apex and Cary.<\/p>\n

Jacobs said GoTriangle would also be open to potentially putting a bus stop at that location if a library is built there. Evans added that GoRaleigh seems open to extending its bus routes into Cary if the library moves there as well.<\/p>\n

Hannah McKenzie lives on Athens Drive and goes to the library at least once a week with her two sons. She said she hoped her sons, ages 9 and 13, would be able to walk to their local library.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving it three miles away would not be a replacement,\u201d McKenzie said. \u201cIt would be an entirely new library.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her and others in the area, the library is more than just a building. It\u2019s a community space. She said professors, graduate students from North Carolina State University, and people in the immigrant community use the library.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community clearly wants it here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dynestie Robinson, who also lives nearby, said she used the library growing up. For her, it was an escape from domestic violence at her home, she said. She\u2019s now a social worker and says the library is a place of respite for the entire community. But Robinson said she doesn\u2019t drive.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI would not go to that Cary location,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 5:30 AM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wake commissioners weigh costs, security and transit as Athens Drive Library looks for a new home; Raleigh residents stress access and community ties over Cary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nA Wake County Library is moving. Why officials prefer keeping it in Raleigh - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2040\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Wake County Library is moving. 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