Left image: Portrait of Mable Cornelia Faison Carter, 20 years old, while a student at Fayetteville State University in 1927. She started the first Black Library Named for John Merrick located on McKoy Street in Clinton, N. C.
Image and narrative source: Stan Best

Right photograph: The John C. Merrick Branch of the Sampson County Library., exterior view.
Written on back: "John C Merrick (Negro) Sampson County Library Clinton, N.C. April '53".
It was a segregated library serving the Black community of Clinton and Sampson County.
Source: State Archives NC / State Library NC - Digital ncdcr- Sampson Co. folder.
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John Merrick and Mable Cornelia Faison Carter are mentioned in a March 1, 2019 article in the Sampson Independent news about exhibits at the The Sampson County History Museum.

This is stated in the article, "Locally, Merrick was known as a generous supporter of schools and colleges for African American children. The first black public library, started by Mable Faison Carter, was named for him."

Here we learn that Mable Faison Carter started the first Black library in Clinton, Sampson Co. We aren't sure if the statement implies that John Merrick helped Carter create the library, though it was named for him.

John Merrick (1859–1919) was an American businessman. He was born enslaved in Clinton, North Carolina. Merrick founded various companies in the Raleigh, North Carolina and Durham, North Carolina areas, most notably the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. Portions of his wealth were channeled back into the Black community through philanthropy. His business acumen and social consciousness made him one of the most influential members of the African-American community in his lifetime.
Merrick was a member of a group of Black men who created Black Wall Street in Durham, North Carolina.