- April 30, 2024
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After years of planning, fundraising and construction, the Lakewood Ranch Library is sliding its glass doors open on Jan. 12 at 16410 Rangeland Parkway.
The public is invited to attend the grand opening at 10 a.m. Snacks and refreshments will be served.
“A library isn’t just a building with books in it. It’s part of the community and helps to build the community,” former District 5 Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said. “I felt like it was important, particularly with the way East County was growing.”
Baugh championed the library while on the board because she saw the need. Every time she walked into the Braden River Library, it was packed. Then, the county expanded that branch, and Baugh said it was still packed.
With 25,000 square feet of space, the Lakewood Ranch Library will have space for a growing community. Beyond the main library area that includes most of the collections and public computers, there are separate areas for children and teens, plus a study room, a makerspace and a retail “Book Nook.”
The public will be able to take advantage of the conference room and the indoor and outdoor event spaces that include a rooftop terrace. There will be more options when the second floor is finished.
“Proposals for workspaces, collection space, space for other public services or a community room are being discussed, but the Board of County Commissioners will have the final say on what they believe should go there.” Library Services Manager Tammy Parrott said of the extra space.
“It was always a little bit of a battle because we knew it was going to cost millions of dollars,” Baugh said of getting the library approved. “That’s a lot of money for a county, particularly one where the main needs that we had were roads.”
Once the roads were prioritized, Baugh set her sights on building a library in East County.
When it came down to the final vote on a budget of $19.9 million, Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge was the only vote against the library. He said the price tag gave him “sticker shock.”
But Commissioner George Kruse called the process of budgeting for a new library a “moving target,” and it certainly was.
When first proposed in 2018, the county had only allocated $5.14 million to the project. With a change to the infrastructure sales tax allocation and another year’s time, that number rose to $10 million.
Then, in 2020, the decision to add the second floor was made, and the price rose to $14.9 million. Planners for Willis Smith suggested the addition.
“We told them this will be the cheapest square-footage you will ever see,” CEO David Sessions said. “To their credit, someone realized that and said, ‘Yes, let’s do it.’”
Doubling the square footage caused a need for more parking, a larger retention pond and a central chiller system for air conditioning that will be used by other facilities in the park, as well.
The final cost came in at $17,677,542.
Within a multi-million dollar budget, only $580,000 was allotted for books and materials. The actual cost of the collection needed for the space was $990,000, so the Friends of the Lakewood Ranch Library stepped in to pick up the remaining tab.
With $200,000 in matching grant funds from the Library Foundation of Manatee County, the group exceeded their $410,000 fundraising goal by $850.50.
But their work didn't end there. Branch Manager Tiffany Mautino gave them a wish list in December with a $22,537 budget. Items include puppets for storytime, a 3D printer for the makerspace and podcasting equipment.
“When we started as a Friends group five years ago, our goal was to be able to get the branch manager whatever he or she needed,” President Sue Ann Miller said. “Each branch librarian has a wish list. Tiffany’s was pretty extensive, but we knew it would be because it’s a new branch.”
The Friends will also be manning the Book Nook, the retail area of the library. Of course, the main items for sale will be books, but the shop will also offer T-shirts, bags, jewelry and CDs. The Friends also clean and vet the books to ensure their inventory stands up to the “gently used” description.
The Book Nook operates on the library’s schedule, so over 65 volunteers have already been trained to take on three shifts a day, six days a week. There will be two volunteers per shift.
The books were all donated. Before they filled up the Book Nook, they lined the walls of Miller’s garage. In December, there were still 30 boxes left, but 60 boxes with 500 books had been moved into the Book Nook. The shelves accommodate about 800 books in total.
Advocacy is another role the Friends play. When there was some pushback from commissioners on the cost of the library, they wrote letters and attended commission meetings. Now, the group is advocating for study rooms on the second floor.
“We want small study rooms because there are none on the first floor,” Miller said. “We need the small study rooms because of tutoring.”
Regardless of how the second floor is used, Lakewood Ranch now has its own community center once the library opens.
“There’s so many things that can happen at the library to make our community even stronger than it is today, so it’s a win-win,” Baugh said.
