Lincoln County is set to cut the ribbon on a new library branch on Friday morning, opening a 22,000-square-foot facility on NC Highway 73 in Iron Station that officials hope will ease crowding at a nearby branch while giving the fast-growing area a hub of its own. The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 23, according to Lincoln Times-News.
The ribbon-cutting and grand opening for the East Lincoln Branch Library will take place along NC-73 in Iron Station, according to lincolntimesnews.com. Tours and refreshments will follow the ceremony.
The ribbon-cutting is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23.
A Project Years in the Making
The library sits on a 55-acre county property, with roughly $1.2 million of state funding used to purchase the parcel along NC Highway 73, the same local report notes. The broader project traces back to fall 2023, when the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $18 million for Lincoln County library improvements, as reported by County of Lincoln, NC — funding that covered construction of the new branch after the county broke ground in November 2024, as noted by County of Lincoln, NC.
County officials describe the finished building as a state-of-the-art facility meant to function as a community hub while taking pressure off the Florence Shanklin Branch Library in Denver. The same state allocation is also expected to fund surrounding park amenities, with plans calling for walking trails and outdoor learning stations to be added around the site over time, per a report from Lincoln Times-News.
From Saine Family Library to East Lincoln Branch
The building wasn't always known by its current name. Lincoln County commissioners voted unanimously, 5-0, on May 18 to rename what had been called the Saine Family Library, settling on East Lincoln Branch Library instead, Lincoln Times-News reported at Lincoln Times-News. Alongside that vote, the county moved to establish a committee tasked with drafting a formal policy for naming county facilities going forward, a step aimed at providing clearer guidance for future projects.
With the ribbon-cutting taking place Friday, the new branch marks the finish line for a project that began with a state budget line item and a bare parcel of land, and ends with a new library in Iron Station.
