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RH Library sets sites on new facility
Site near Publix one of a number of potential sites
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A 400-acre site in South Bryan near Publix could one day be the home of the new Richmond Hill Public Library.

Bryan County Library Board of Trustees Co-Chair Barbara Rosenthal told county commissioners during their regular meeting last week in Richmond Hill that builder ICI Homes Inc. is considering donating land off Port Royal Road for a new library, which is being funded by $2.5 million from the state and $1.5 million in special local option sales tax funds.

Rosenthal said retired Gen. Marvin Back, a library board trustee, is working with ICI on the possible donation.

"ICI homes considers the library a valued enhancement to future their future housing development and are eager to work with the library and Bryan County to make this happen," she said in an email.

But while library officials and ICI Homes work out details of a possible deal to submit to state officials, the Port Royal Road site isn’t the only possible location for the new facility, Rosenthal said, noting the library board’s building committee has put hundreds of hours into the project and considered a number of sites.

"If anyone wants to suggest a site, we’d be very interested in looking at it," she said. "We want it accessible to the population. We kind of feel the city’s population is moving that way (east on 144), so moving out a little bit is good, but we don’t want to move it way out."

No matter where the new library ends up or when it’s built, the need for a larger facility is evident, Rosenthal said.

According to the library board, Richmond Hill’s current 8,034-square-foot facility on Ford Avenue near the fish hatchery served 17,299 patrons last year. The population in its service area in 2013 is 22,500, but that number is expected to grow to 40,000 by 2030.

Read full story in June 19 issue of the Bryan County News.

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