And some more thoughts....

To be fair, the traders have good reason for wanting the library open in some form to encourage footfall to the road. They are not necessarily there to poison the well. They just happen to be openly good mates with a famous poisoner. That's all right then.

More generally I believe the model of funding our libraries, schools, hospitals, etc by local benefactors as the state shrinks is a thoroughly bad one.
They will not provide the same level of funding - why should they - 'you're lucky to get anything at all', and it is open to abuse - 'its our money and if we want x,y or z promoted instead of a,b.c then that's what is going to happen.' This is the thin edge of the wedge and it really turns my stomach.