Just a few steps inside the door to the McMillan Library lies a scrapbook that tells the story of the library. The scrapbook has been lovingly prepared by library employee Ginny Batten who, no doubt, will paste yet another page giving the record of the facility’s merger with the Robeson County Public Library.
Jackie Rentz, the local librarian, said the merger will make more resources available to the citizens of Red Springs. More computers will be added for use by the public, and the system of checking books in and out will be updated. “Books will be bar-coded and there will be computerized check-out and check-in,” said Batten. The library is situated on a lot on E. Second and Charleveaux streets. The lot was donated for a library in 1963 by Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Alexander and Mrs.W.B. Townsend and daughters.
The late Malcolm P. McLean expressed an interest in giving a building that would serve as a memorial to Louanna Purcell McMillan and Cornelia Spencer McMillan.
The building’s cost was estimated at $20,000, with an additional $7,000 to $8,000 needed to put it in operation. Work began on the building in July 1963, and news reports show that Mrs. Sam McKay, librarian, began accepting donated books in 1963.
The effort to fill the library’s shelves became a community effort as local organizations joined in collecting books to donate to the library.
As another page turns in the history of the Louanna Purcell McMillan and Cornelia Spencer McMillan Memorial Library, the facility continues to grow in its service to the community.
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