Cherokee County has agreed to contribute up to $1 million to renovate the library at Reinhardt University in Waleska so that it can also serve as the public library for the area.
The partnership of the county, university, city of Waleska and Sequoyah Regional Library System would save taxpayers an estimated $2.5 million in capital costs and $300,000 in annual operating costs as opposed to building a new, freestanding library, County Manager Jerry W. Cooper told the Board of Commissioners before they voted to approve the arrangement.
The county would tap a Special Purpose Local Optional Sales Tax to fund the library upgrade “to accommodate expanded community access and purchase of materials and equipment for use by the Reinhardt, Waleska and Cherokee County communities,” according to the agreement.
Cherokee also would work with Reinhardt and Waleska on a possible future agreement on paving asphalt roads in and around the campus, provide internship opportunities to Reinhardt students, and foster a business accelerator program in the renovated library space.
Sequoyah is the regional library system of Cherokee, Gilmer and Pickens counties. Cherokee had identified the need for a library in Waleska, Cooper said, but the economic downturn and the state funding situation had moved the project “to the bottom of the priority list.” Residents might have to wait “many, many years, if not a decade,” to see a new library built, he said.
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