The small town of Saluda NC (population 575) is rightfully proud of their new library on Main Street that opened in December of 2000.  The town didn’t have a library and residents had to drive half an hour to get to one in neighboring communities.  The building, originally used as a retail store, was donated to the town by a previous mayor in the mid-1990s; the renovation took 18 months.  The entire community came together to raise funds from public and private sources both locally and out-of-state.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated a total of 16 computers for a computer lab and general patron use.