Morrison Regional Library [2], completed in 1991,was the first regional library in the Charlotte Mecklenburg system. It sat on 2 acres of land donated by developer Johnny Harris and was named for Cameron Morrison, the “good roads governor” of the 1920s, who retired to his Mecklenburg County farm (later the site of SouthPark Mall) and lived there until his death in 1953. At two stories tall and 24,000 sq. ft., Morrison Regional dwarfed the storefront Sharon branch [3] that it replaced and quickly became the busiest library in terms of circulation.

Library Director Robert Cannon attributed a growth in library usage overall to the new branches: "A new library increases library awareness. The more libraries we have, the more use we get.” This argument certainly held true in the southern end of Mecklenburg County, where the Carmel (1985), Morrison (1991), and Arboretum (1992) branches had all the business they could handle. (Whitacre, 1991)Dianne Whitacre, “Read all about it: Library popularity increases,” Charlotte Observer, November 6, 1991, p.3M