Local officials cut the ribbon to the Drakeford Library Complex, including Orange County Commissioners Chair Jamezetta Bedford, Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee, and U.S. Representative Valerie Foushee. Also pictured is Derrick Drakeford.
After being delayed for a month, Carrboro’s Drakeford Library Complex held its ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Mar 21.
The library, located at 203 S. Greensboro St., first opened to the public in February, when the ribbon-cutting ceremony was originally scheduled to take place. However, the ceremony was postponed due to inclement weather. On Friday, town officials and members of the public finally got the chance to celebrate the substantial addition to Carrboro’s downtown. One of the speakers at the event was Valerie Foushee, U.S. representative of North Carolina’s 4th District.
“The first time I voted for this complex — or this idea of a complex — was 20 years ago,” she said to the crowd in attendance. The $42 million development took more than two years to construct and had been in the works dating back to 2016.
“It should not be lost on any of us, that it takes all of us to make a dream come true,” she said. “We did not let this dream die, even though this dream was deferred. We made sure that it happened.”
The building’s namesake is former Carrboro Mayor Robert Drakeford, who was the town’s first Black mayor.
“I’m grateful for the vision of Dr. Bob Drakeford,” said Foushee. “I’m grateful for the vision of all of the people in this community that recognized the need and did not stop working to fulfill that need until the day of accomplishment.”
U.S. representative Valerie Foushee delivered remarks in the Drakeford Library Complex’s lobby.
Another speaker at the event was Derrick Drakeford, Robert Drakeford’s son. He spoke about what it was like growing up with such a successful father.
“I remember when he was a professor at Auburn University and I would go into the den of his office, I saw this old black and white picture of President [Ronald] Reagan sitting down at the center of the table in the Oval Office,” he told the attendees. “And my father was standing at the end of the table giving a presentation on behalf of the National Conference of Black Mayors. He served as their vice president and they felt he was the best orator to give the presentation. There was the most powerful man on the planet sitting down, listening to my father. No pressure.”
Despite his achievements, Drakeford says that his dad was more concerned with what he could pass on to the next generation.
“My dad was passionate about mentoring,” Derrick said. “He wrote his dissertation on mentoring. And you can read it here at the Drakeford Library Complex.”
Drakeford also advocated for mentoring in his speech on Friday, and suggested the new library could be a good place to do so.
“There’s a young person out there today that needs you,” he said. “Take them to lunch to split a burger, take ’em to the library to read a book with them. We have to be parents to more than just our own kids.”
One of the organizations located at the complex is WCOM radio.
The complex is home to the new library, as well as providing office space for a number of local governmental departments and organizations. Those include Carrboro’s Parks and Recreation Department, the Orange County Skills Development and NCWorks Career Center, a studio for WCOM radio, and more. It also features a multi-level parking deck.
The library’s hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
All photos included in this piece were taken by Chapel Hill Media Group’s Andrew Stuckey.
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I would think providing the address would have been helpful.