Union County opened the Southwest Regional Library to the public on Friday, April 19, 2024, at 1720 Cuthbertson Road in Waxhaw, North Carolina. It is roughly 19,000 square feet and cost $14.7 million to build. Three of those facts get reported wrong constantly, including in the earlier version of this page: the year was 2024, not 2023; the address is 1720 Cuthbertson Road, not the 1515 that still appears on several listing sites; and it did not open alongside the downtown park, which opened five weeks earlier under a different government.
Quick answer
The Southwest Regional Library is Union County’s newest library, about 19,000 square feet at 1720 Cuthbertson Road in Waxhaw, opened April 19, 2024 at a construction cost of $14.7 million. It is open six days a week and closed Sundays.
- Address: 1720 Cuthbertson Road, Waxhaw, NC 28173, beside the Cuthbertson school campus
- Phone: 704-283-8184
- Opened: Friday, April 19, 2024
- Size and cost: about 19,000 square feet, $14.7 million to construct
- Hours: Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sunday
Where it is and when it is open
1720 Cuthbertson Road, Waxhaw, NC 28173, phone 704-283-8184. It sits next to the Cuthbertson school campus, which is the single most useful thing to know about visiting it. Posted hours per the Union County Public Library listing checked September 6, 2026 are Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Sunday.
Watch the address. Several directory and review sites still list this library at 1515 Cuthbertson Road. The county’s own listing gives 1720. If you are typing it into a maps app, use 1720 and expect the county campus, not a strip center. Union County holidays close the branch and are not reflected in the standing hours, so check the library calendar before a holiday week trip.
What it cost and who paid for it
Construction ran $14.7 million as a Union County capital project. On top of that, the Union County Library Foundation raised an additional $822,000 for books, amenities, technology and programming spaces, per county announcements and April 2024 news coverage.
County Library Director Nina Chaffin said at the opening, “We are thrilled to finally be opening the new Southwest Regional Library.” The word finally is doing some work there. Construction on this building started back in 2021, and the project ran long enough that plenty of Waxhaw residents had stopped expecting it.
Union County has said more than 70,000 residents live within 15 minutes of the building. That is the number that explains the size, and it is also the number that explains the parking lot on a Saturday.
What is inside
Per Union County’s own description of the building and April 2024 coverage of the opening, the roughly 19,000 square feet holds a children’s storytime area, reading nooks, a STEAM lab, study rooms, technology spaces, meeting spaces, expanded collections and an outdoor patio.
Two notes on that list. First, a lot of write ups about this library, this site’s included, have published specific equipment lists for the STEAM lab. I could not confirm any specific piece of equipment from a county source this week, so none is listed here. Call 704-283-8184 and ask what the lab currently has before you drive over for a particular machine, because that inventory changes.
Second, the outdoor patio is real and is part of the county’s own description of the building. Claims about which civic group funded it are the kind of detail that gets attached to a building and repeated, and I could not verify that attribution, so it is left out.
Meeting rooms and who can actually book them
The library has bookable meeting space, but it is not open to everyone. Per Union County Public Library’s room reservation system checked September 6, 2026, meeting room requests are limited to Union County resident cardholders, nonprofits with a presence in the county, county partners and other government entities.
If you moved here from out of county, work remotely, and were picturing this as a free conference room for client calls, read that line again. A study room and a meeting room are different products with different rules. Book through the county library’s reservation system rather than by walking in.
| Detail | What the county lists |
|---|---|
| Address | 1720 Cuthbertson Road, Waxhaw, NC 28173 |
| Phone | 704-283-8184 |
| Opened to the public | Friday, April 19, 2024 |
| Size | About 19,000 square feet |
| Construction cost | $14.7 million |
| Foundation fundraising | $822,000 for books, technology and programming |
| Hours | Mon to Thu 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fri and Sat 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Sun |
| Inside | Storytime area, reading nooks, STEAM lab, study rooms, technology and meeting spaces, outdoor patio |
| Meeting room eligibility | County resident cardholders, county nonprofits, county partners, government entities |
| System | Union County Public Library |
Sources: Union County Public Library facility listing and room reservation system, county announcements and April 2024 news coverage of the opening, all checked September 6, 2026. Hours and programming change; confirm by phone before a special trip.
The tradeoff
Stated plainly: it is closed on Sundays, which is the day a lot of families would actually use it, and it shares a road with a middle and high school campus. Cuthbertson Road at 7:45 a.m. and again at 3 p.m. on a school day is not a road you want to be turning left onto. If you are visiting with small children, mid morning on a weekday or the first hour on a Saturday is the calm window.
The second one is about buying. A new $14.7 million library two minutes away is a genuine quality of life addition and it is not a reason to stretch on a house. Union County built it for more than 70,000 people, and every one of those households gets the same benefit whether they paid a Waxhaw premium or not.
When you get to the stage of working out what a Waxhaw address actually costs against Weddington or Marvin, the Waxhaw community guide at The Longleaf Group goes deeper on the buying side than this page does.
Our other coverage of this area is at Waxhaw and Marvin, and the companion piece on the town’s new park is here.
Frequently asked questions
When did the new Waxhaw library open?
The Southwest Regional Library opened to the public on Friday, April 19, 2024, per Union County announcements and news coverage that week. The 2023 date that circulates, including in an earlier version of this page, is wrong. Construction began in 2021.
What is the address of the Southwest Regional Library?
1720 Cuthbertson Road, Waxhaw, NC 28173, beside the Cuthbertson school campus. Several directory sites still show 1515 Cuthbertson Road, which does not match the county’s own listing. Use 1720. Checked September 6, 2026.
What are the library hours?
Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sunday, per the Union County Public Library listing checked September 6, 2026. County holidays are not reflected in those standing hours, so check the calendar before a holiday visit.
Can anyone reserve a meeting room there?
No. Meeting room requests are limited to Union County resident cardholders, nonprofits with a presence in the county, county partners and other government entities, per the county library’s reservation system checked September 6, 2026. Study rooms operate under separate rules; ask the branch at 704-283-8184.
How big is the Southwest Regional Library?
About 19,000 square feet, built at a construction cost of $14.7 million, with an additional $822,000 raised by the Union County Library Foundation for books, technology and programming. The 20,000 square foot figure repeated elsewhere, including in an earlier version of this page, is a rounding of the county’s number rather than a separate source.
Did the library and the downtown park open together?
No. The Town of Waxhaw opened its Downtown Park at 301 Givens Street on March 1, 2024. Union County opened the Southwest Regional Library at 1720 Cuthbertson Road on April 19, 2024. Two governments, two addresses, five weeks apart.
Updated September 2026. Address, phone and hours from the Union County Public Library facility listing, checked September 6, 2026. Opening date, square footage, $14.7 million construction cost, the $822,000 Foundation figure, the 70,000 resident catchment and the director’s quote from Union County announcements and April 2024 news coverage of the opening, checked September 6, 2026. Meeting room eligibility from the county library reservation system, checked September 6, 2026. Specific STEAM lab equipment and the funder of the outdoor patio could not be verified from a county source this week and are deliberately omitted.