Rob Harrington to Co-Chair Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's CommonSpark Campaign

When the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library recently revealed plans for the much-anticipated new Main Library building, it also announced that Robinson Bradshaw attorney Rob Harrington will co-chair the related fundraising campaign. Harrington currently serves as chairman of the Library’s board of trustees. When his two-year term ends in the summer of 2020, he will remain as co-chair of the campaign.

Called the CommonSpark Campaign, its goal is to raise $135 million for the new building. Mecklenburg County has already committed $65 million, with an additional $10 million pledged by the Knight Foundation. The campaign team consists of 65 members with 16 cabinet leaders. Harrington is joined by co-chairs Charles Bowman of Bank of America and Holly Welch Stubbing of Foundation for the Carolinas.

"I think the library is a place for learning, and it's a place for reinvention," Harrington said in a video on the campaign's website. "The Main Library is a place where we can really do all of that together. We are building a library for the foreseeable future, and to have the opportunity to be a part of that, for me has been really special."

The new library is slated for completion in 2024 and will remain in its current location at the corner of Tryon and Sixth streets in uptown Charlotte.

A recent Charlotte Business Journal article covered further details of the new facility and fundraising campaign, including renderings of the new building. That article is available here.