With the opening of the 1956 building, a new department was created: The North Carolina Room.
The room housed local history and genealogy collections that had been stored away in the Carnegie Library. Charles Brockman and Mary Louise Phillips were the first librarians in the department, and over the next thirty years the collection grew tremendously.
When the 1989 building opened, the department was relocated to this much more spacious location. It included a reading room, a map room, a rare book room, music collection and microfilm area. Researchers sat at the original 1903 Carnegie tables. This space was named the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room to honor the generosity of Sally and Russell Robinson and Meredith and C.D. Spangler for their support of the 1989 building project.
The resources of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room draw researchers, historians, journalists, and genealogists from across the U.S. and other countries. While the new Main Library is under construction, the collection will remain accessible by appointment in an offsite location. We can’t wait to showcase the incredible resources of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room as a significant component of the new Main Library and once again feature the beloved, familiar 1903 tables.
This audio tour was created using resources from your Library’s Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room.