Written by Tiane Davis // Photo by Macy Cox
Renovation at the new Searcy Public Library location began in early August after the library fundraising committee reached its original goal, according to a July 6 article from The Daily Citizen. The $8.2 million project is set to finish July 2024, and the building is expected to open — fully moved from its current location — September 2024.
The Searcy Public Library has needed a new location for over 20 years, said Darla Ino, White County Public Library System director. In 2017, after an initiative to build a new library through the city failed, the Searcy Public Library board continued the search for a new building but struggled to find an ideal place downtown, Ino said.
In 2020, the Searcy Athletic Club on Skyline Drive — less than two miles from the current location — shut down.
Owner Dr. David Staggs offered to sell the approximately 33,000-square-foot building to the City of Searcy to repurpose as the new Searcy library for $1.7 million. The White County Public Library System paid half the price, and the city paid the rest, Ino said.
The current location, which is right next to Spring Park, has given the library opportunities to host a variety of events. The new building is right next to Yancey Park, which is exactly what the Searcy library board wanted, Ino said. During the summer, the library staff will be able to host outdoor activities like petting zoos and other activities for children to participate in.
“One thing we did not want to give up is being adjacent to some green space,” Ino said. “We didn’t really want this to be a building in the middle of town with no green space around it. It’s the best choice we had.”
The library fundraising board raised over $4 million from the community alone, with a $2 million donation from the late Larry Crain Sr., Ino said. Over 200 individuals and businesses helped raise the funds, with 105 giving over $1,000.
“I’ve just really been pleased to see how it’s all pulled together and how the community really stepped up,” Ino said. “To see a city and a county both with a strong interest in getting a project done — I felt like that was a proud moment for our community. There were times we didn’t know if it would ever happen.”
When Crain donated the money, he asked that the building be named after his wife, Janett. After Larry Crain died in April 2023, the Larry and Janett Crain Charitable Foundation donated the rest of the money needed to fund the project. The Searcy library board decided to honor him as well and name it the “Janett and Larry Crain Memorial Library,” Searcy library board president Jean Ann Bell said.
“The thing that has pleased me the most is to see how our community has come together and done this cooperatively,” Bell said. “My only regret is that he did not live to see it come to fruition. He and his wife Janett were wonderful supporters of this community.”
Bell said she had never heard of another endeavor of such magnitude that brought together the city, county and community to help see it through.
“It’s such an important part of our community,” Bell said. “I think that people will be really pleased when they see the finished product because they will understand that it’s going to be a facility that will serve so many needs. It’s all about reaching the community and helping people get things that they need for free.”
The new building is approximately three times the size of the current building, which means it will have space for features the original library could never have, said Jan Smith, chair of the fundraising committee.
The new library will have a cafe, a passport office, a “library friends bookstore,” study rooms, an art gallery, a computer lab, business resource office and drive-through windows for books and coffee. Along with those added features, the book sections will be rearranged, and the second floor will have a “teen section,” with resources geared toward helping young adults.
“This new library will give us the opportunity to offer programs that we just didn’t have the space for,” Smith said. “The library serves all people, and it’s really a service for all people to take advantage of. I’ve always been a lover of reading — I know how important reading is, but I have also visited other libraries and know what a modern-day library can offer a community.”
