Broward County Library

Broward County Library System

File:Broward County Library Logo.jpg
Country	United States
Type	Public Library
Established
Architect
Location	Broward County, Florida
Branches	38
Collection
Size
Access and use
Circulation	10.5 million
Population served	1,909,632
Other information
Director
Website	Official Site

The Broward County Library is a public library system in Broward County, Florida, in the United States. The system contains 38 branch locations and circulates over 10.5 million items annually. The system includes the Main Library in Fort Lauderdale, five regional libraries, and numerous branches.

History

From 1963 to 1972, library activists Barbara Cooper, Joyce Gardner, Dr. Clint Hamilton, Robbie Kurland, with the support of the League of Women Voters, worked together to establish a library subcommittee to improve library service in Broward County under the leadership of Mary Rose Lawson. The report generated by the committee received wide media attention and was supported by County Commissioner Robert Hubener. As a result of the committee's work, on January 9, 1973, the Broward County Commission approved the establishment of a county library system. County Administrator Robert Kauth was put in charge of hiring a County Library Director. It was recommended by consultant F. William Summers to establish a large central library facility with smaller neighborhood branches.

Stephen Whitney was appointed as the first Library Director. The system began issuing borrower cards on June 17, 1974 for 270,000 items. There were four branches: Fort Lauderdale, Riverland, Mizell, and Hollywood. During the first year, the city libraries in Lauderdale Lakes, Coral Springs, and Miramar joined the county system. Also that year the Friends of the Broward County Library were formed. Over the following three decades, many of the municipalities in Broward County elected to join the county library system. These included Lauderhill, Hallandale, Dania Beach, Margate, Sunrise, Deerfield Beach, North Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach.

Stephen Whitney resigned from the library director's position effective January 1, 1977, and was replaced by Cecil P. Beach, who was previously Florida's State Librarian. Beach oversaw the 1978 Bond Issue which provided $256 million for capital construction projects, including $32 million for 12 new and expanded libraries. Beach actively oversaw the planning and construction of the system's flagship branch, Main Library.

In 1982, the Broward Public Library Foundation was established as a 501(c) 3 charitable organization committed to enhancing the collections, programs and services of the Broward County Library system. It is a nonprofit foundation engaged in securing private funding and endowments for Broward County Libraries.

In 1983, the South Regional Library located on the South Campus of Broward Community College became the first joint-use public-college library in the State of Florida.

In 1974, the Broward County Board of County Commissioners approved to create one library system with the integrated 12 local branches and flagship branch, Main Library. In 1980, Main Library was funded with part of the bond issued for $250 million. The cost of Main Library went up from $20.5 to $42 million, in part because of inflation. The architects Hamilton Smith and Tician Papachristou worked together on this award-winning project. Library Director Cecil P. Beach is accorded a great deal of recognition for the realization of Main Library since he was involved in all phases of the project, from the beginning of the planning stage to completion. In April 1984, the Broward County Library system opened the new Main Library of 260,000-square-foot (222,000 square feet net usable area), located 100 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Also in 1984, the Florida Center for the Book was founded. This was the first state-level Center for the Book, modeled after the Library of Congress Center for the Book. Center for the Book.

In 1989, Cecil P. Beach resigned as library director. Samuel F. Morrison became BCL's third library director in 1990, having served as assistant director of BCL from 1974 to 1987 before being named Chief Librarian of the Chicago Public Library from 1987 to 1990. His many accomplishments included the creation and construction of the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Following Morrison's 2002 retirement, he was succeeded in 2003 by Broward County Library's fourth director, Robert Cannon, former Executive Director of the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Public Library in North Carolina.

The library was named "Library of the Year" in 1996 by Library Journal and Gale Research. At that time, the library operated on a budget in excess of $60 million, held more than three million items, and had over 10 million visitors a year.

Ongoing construction, including that funded by a $139.9 million bond issue approved by voters in 1999, has resulted in the current total of 38 branch libraries (many remodeled) and the eight-story Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The Main Library houses a Patent and Trademark Depository, the Florida Center for the Book, the Bienes Museum of the Modern Book, and Gallery Six, and a public fine arts exhibition center.

On February 1, 2007, Broward County Library opened the first green building in Broward County, the South Regional/BC Library. An innovative library building, "the structure’s engineers adhered to a rigorous set of environmental standards which include energy efficiency and water conservation". A unique feature of the library is that it "serves as Broward Colleges' principal research facility, while also meeting the specific needs of Broward County's local seniors, adults, teens and children." "When opened, the library became one of the first joint-use facilities in Florida and the nation".

Skye Patrick served as the Director of the Broward County Libraries Division from April 29, 2013 to February 9, 2016. She previously served as Assistant Director at the Queens Public Library, where she managed 20 branch locations in that system.

The year 2014 commemorated the Broward County Library's 40th year of operation. During 2014, Broward County Libraries coordinated and produced a system-wide campaign, "Broward County Libraries Mean Business!" The purpose was to create programming to assist small business and entrepreneurial enterprises as well as raise awareness of the many business-related resources offered by the library. It was launched in conjunction with Broward County Mayor Barara Sharief's 2014 leadership theme, "Broward Means Business."

In 2015, Broward County Libraries Division received eight national Awards of Excellence from the National Association of County Information Officers (NACIO) for information projects that exhibit expertise in communications. The competition honors a variety of projects that include public relations campaigns, brochures and publications, articles and press releases, videos and internet/electronic innovations. In 2015 Broward County has won a total of 28 awards, more than any other locality in the country.

Skye Patrick resigned as Director of the Broward County Public Library System on December 28, 2015 to take the position as the top librarian for the Los Angeles County Library. When she resigned, Laura Connors, who had served as Assistant Director under Patrick, served as Acting Director until Kelvin Watson was appointed as Director on February 26, 2017.

Kelvin Watson, current Director of the Broward County Libraries, previously worked as the Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President for Queens Library in New York City.

Special Exhibit

On October 23, 2007, a moon rock was unveiled at the Broward County Main Library, located at 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, where it has since been on permanent view on the sixth floor. The lunar sample was donated by Susan Eisele Black, the wife of late Apollo 7 astronaut Donn Fulton Eisele. The exhibit was coordinated and secured by the Broward Public Library Foundation.

Locations

• African-American Research Library and Cultural Center – 2650 Sistrunk Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale
• Beach Branch – 3250 NE 2nd Street, Pompano Beach
• Bienes Museum of the Modern Book (at Main Library) – 100 S Andrews Avenue, 6th floor, Fort Lauderdale
• Broward County Law Library – County Court House, 201 SE 6th Street, Room 1800 – North Wing Fort Lauderdale
• Carver Ranches – 4735 SW 18 Street, West Park
• Century Plaza – 1856-A W Hillsboro Boulevard, Deerfield Beach
• Jan Moran Collier City Learning Library – 2800 NW 9 Court, Pompano Beach
• Dania Beach Paul DeMaio Branch – 1 Park Avenue East, Dania Beach
• Davie/Cooper City Branch – 4600 SW 82 Ave, Davie
• Deerfield Beach Percy White Branch – 837 E Hillsboro Boulevard, Deerfield Beach
• Fort Lauderdale Reading Center – 1300 E Sunrise Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale
• Foster Park Community Center Micro-Library – 609 NW 6th Avenue, Hallandale Beach
• Galt Ocean Mile Reading Center – 3403 Galt Ocean Drive, Fort Lauderdale
• Hallandale Beach Branch – 300 S Federal Highway, Hallandale Beach
• Hollywood Beach Bernice P. Oster Branch – 1301 S Ocean Drive, Hollywood
• Hollywood Branch – 2600 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
• Imperial Point Branch – 5985 N Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale
• Lauderdale Lakes Library/Educational and Cultural Center – 3580 W Oakland Park Boulevard, Lauderdale Lakes
• Lauderhill Central Park Library – 3810 NW 11 Place, Lauderhill
• Lauderhill Towne Centre Library – 6399 W Oakland Park Boulevard, Lauderhill
• Main Library – 100 S Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale
• Margate Catharine Young Branch – 5810 Park Drive, Margate
• Miramar Branch Library & Education Center – 2050 Civic Center Place, Miramar
• North Lauderdale Saraniero Branch – 6901 Kimberly Boulevard, North Lauderdale
• North Regional/Broward College Library – 1100 Coconut Creek Boulevard, Coconut Creek
• Northwest Branch – 1580 NW 3 Avenue, Pompano Beach
• Northwest Regional Library – 3151 N University Drive, Coral Springs
• Nova Southeastern University Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center – 3100 Ray Ferrero, Jr. Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale
• Pembroke Pines/Walter C. Young Resource Center – 955 NW 129 Avenue, Pembroke Pines
• Pompano Beach Library and Cultural Center – 50 W Atlantic Boulevard, Pompano Beach
• Riverland Branch – 2710 W Davie Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale
• South Regional/Broward College Library – 7300 Pines Boulevard, Pembroke Pines
• Southwest Regional Library – 16835 Sheridan Street, Pembroke Pines
• Stirling Road Branch – 3151 Stirling Road, Hollywood
• Sunrise Dan Pearl Branch – 10500 W Oakland Park Boulevard, Sunrise
• Tamarac Branch – 8701 W Commercial Boulevard, Tamarac
• Tyrone Bryant Branch – 2230 NW 21 Avenue, Fort Lauderdale
• West Regional Library – 8601 W Broward Boulevard, Plantation
• Weston Branch – 4205 Bonaventure Boulevard, Weston
• Young at Art Museum/Broward County Library – 751 SW 121 Avenue, Davie

African-American Research Library and Cultural Center

Main article: African-American Research Library and Cultural Center

On October 26, 2002, the Broward County Library opened the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, located at 2650 Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The 60,000-square-foot facility has a 300-seat auditorium, 5,000-square-foot art gallery, and Small Business Resource Center. Since its opening, the Center has hosted more than 38 major exhibits and served more than 895,000 customers.

External links

• Official site

Template:Florida public libraries

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