by Kat Apf

Created on: May 21, 2010

There was one librarian for many years in Apex, North Carolina.  Miss Lewter was it from the late 1940's until 1986 when she retired.  Apex is a real life Mayberry and the history of the Eva Perry Library is proof of that.  The history of this library is as quaint as the downtown area itself.

The Apex Community Library was in downtown Apex on South Salem Street until 1965.  When the Richard B Harrison Library in Raleigh and the Olivia Raney Library merged a Library Board of Trustee was started so they could get financial assistance from Wake County Public Libraries.

Not long after this, members of the town started a project to find a way to  use the downtown train depot as the library.  According to the Wake Government Website, the Apex Community library was dubbed one of the most attractive small libraries in the state. The train depot is still there today and it's quite easy to see this as being a terrific location for the library. 

Eva Perry left the town a monetary gift in her will in 1985. The money from the sale of her home was to go to the town so they could build a new library.  Apex and the Wake County Public Libraries worked together to open the library as a regional one.  The Eva Perry Regional Library opened in 1996.

The library today is a far cry from what the train depot must have been. It's a fairly modern looking building that is huge, 23,000 square feet of library!  It's got a light and airy feeling to it because the skylights.  The children's area is terrific.  There's a beautiful mural that has great images of characters out of children's literature.  It's truly a relaxing atmosphere. The librarians are helpful and knowledgeable, too. 

The library has great hours, too. Monday through Friday they are opened from 9am to 9pm. Fridays they close at 6pm. Saturdays they are opened from 10pm to 5pm.  And they are open on Sundays from 1pm to 5pm.

There are many different programs for kids and adults at the Eva Perry Library.  You can see a list of the many activities the library has to offer here.

The library is right off Route 64 on 2100 Shepherd's Vineyard Drive close to Shepherd's Vineyard neighborhood.  The phone number is 387-2100.

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