Main Library

Address: 100 South Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 (on the Southeast corner of Andrews Avenue and Broward Boulevard)

Phone: 954-357-7444

Hours:
Sunday: 12 Noon to 5:30 p.m.
Monday - Thursday:  9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Broward County's Main Library, the flagship of the library fleet, is located at the center of downtown Fort Lauderdale, on Andrews Avenue, between Broward Boulevard and Southeast 2nd Street. The library is connected by an overhead crosswalk to the City's parking garage. Directly to the south of the library are the Museum of Art, trendy Las Olas Boulevard, and just a few blocks away, the New River. Across the street from the library to the west is the Broward County Governmental Center. And a short hike to the west will take you to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and the Museum of Discovery and Science.

The Main Library is an eight-story building, nationally recognized for its unique design featuring a cascade of windows and terraces on the north side and a winding staircase through an open foyer on the inside. The front of the library overlooks a plaza where many outdoor events are held. In the center of the plaza is a reflecting pool.

FIRST FLOOR
On the first floor of the Main Library is a 300-seat auditorium where meetings are held and shows are produced. Literary cinema selections and movie programs are also screened here. Across the hall is the Cultural Information Center where visitors can learn about cultural opportunities in Broward and purchase tickets to arts events as well as shop for cultural gift items. The Broward Community Technology Center has computers for public use and computer training classes; it is located near the escalator. On the east side of the lobby, near the elevator, is the Talking Books Library with its collection of audio-tapes of books and periodicals for people with hearing impairments, along with some Braille materials.

Your choice of escalator, elevator or outside stairs will bring you to the second floor of the library.

SECOND FLOOR
In the second floor lobby area, a library greeter sits at the information desk. To the left of the information desk is a smart little restaurant, Charcuterie Too! Behind the information desk is the ArtServe Gallery and Gift Shop where you can purchase original works of art and elegant gifts. Around the corner from the gift shop resides a collection of used books, magazines and phonograph albums for sale in the Friends of Fort Lauderdale Libraries' Used Book Fair.

Going through the electronic gateway (which detects wayward library books), will lead you past a row of check-out desks for library materials, along with a self-checkout station for books, audio books and videocassettes. Display cases in the lobby feature various collections throughout the year.

The second floor of the library features the popular library of bestselling books. It also has a large collection of entertainment and educational CDs, DVDs and videotapes. The library boasts a large collection of foreign movies, along with language instruction aids and home improvement videos. There is also a section of audio books on cassette and CD. And, did you know, that by using your library card, you can even download audio books from the Internet, that are encoded so you can read them but not keep them?

The Youth Services section is located in the south corner of the second floor. They have a great selection of children's books and children's audio books, plus close to 1,000 graphic novels, a large collection of science and history books for students, and an excellent section on world religions and fairy tales. The Youth Services Section even has Harry Potter books available in Chinese, Russian, Spanish and French translations. They also have an assortment of children's literature in Creole, Portuguese, and Hebrew.

There are six youth services librarians at the Main Library, and they provide a variety of programs, including bilingual story time for children of all ages, programs for toddlers and tots, and an afternoon craft twice a month. (Please check Bookings for schedules.) For older children, there is a Teen Advisory Board that helps to design library programs for teens, and an Anime Club (Japanese animation) that meets once a month. And, since many teens volunteer at the library for school credit, there is a teen volunteer orientation three times a year.

Near the checkout area of the lobby is your choice of an elevator (that runs between the second and eighth floors) or a winding staircase that will take you up through the open atrium to the sixth floor.


THIRD FLOOR
If you take the stairs to the third floor landing, you will immediately find the magazine racks. The library has hundreds of magazines, and only a portion of them are displayed. Some of the magazine covers are "dummies" featuring photocopy covers, because of their tendency to "get legs." These very popular items need to be checked out from the desk. There is also a catalog at the desk that lists hundreds of magazines available for perusal.

The magazine section has microfilm versions of newspapers from around Florida, across the country, and around the world. They stock some of the popular local newsletters daily and hold them for three months (until microfilm versions are available). A few newspapers are located on a browsing rack by the microfilm readers.

One of the most popular features of the third floor is the public computer area. Library patrons can sign up for one of 30 public access computers where they can surf the Internet and check their e-mail. Computer laptop owners are also able to surf the Internet along the north wall of any library floor, via the Governmental Center's WIFI access. There is a color copier available on this floor.

Stacks and stacks of fiction and nonfiction-many available in foreign languages-are on this floor. And there are special collections of Florida history, gardening, and genealogy. The information desk is happy to help patrons trace their roots using library materials and online databases.

Patrons of the arts will find much to interest them on the third floor. There are many art books, volumes of photo collections, cartoon strip collections, books on film and theater, and reference books of Broadway songs, popular songs and classical music. The information desk has an index to all song titles and provides access to a locked storage cabinet with oversize art books and rarer titles. The art and architecture books, in particular, draw students from nearby colleges.


FOURTH FLOOR
The entire fourth floor of the library has material that can be checked out, and not just referenced. This includes a large assortment of songbooks, orchestral scores, Broadway scores, and pop music. There is also a collection of plays that especially appeal to theater students.

A wonderful collection of biographies is located on the fourth floor, organized by the name of the subject, not the author. There are books about everything from A to Z - including, sports, poetry, travel, the arts, cooking, culture, philosophy, history, education, health and business.

There is a collection of car repair manuals that draws mechanics, and architectural books that draws students from the University Tower, the Art Institute, FIU, FAU, and local technical schools. There are graphic novels and computer help books. There are study guides for civil service exams, and for GED, ACT and SAT tests, plus a selection of easy reading materials for adults learning English, supplements to the "Each One Teach One" program.

The floor is home to FDLRS - the Florida Diagnostic Learning Resource Center. This resource is a partnership between Broward County Library and the School Board. There are materials and books for children, kindergarten through high school, with exceptional learning challenges. There are free screening services to see if children have a learning disability.


FIFTH FLOOR
The fifth floor of the Main Library is all business... it houses government documents, business materials, and legal references. It's a place where people learn how to set up and fund a small business or how to get a patent for a new invention or a trademark for a new service. People come from as far away as Melbourne and Naples, Florida to do patent research in our patent depository library.

There are also 17 public computers on this floor.

There is a Small Business Resource Center in one corner, with a set of nine computers loaded with business planning software, and a color printer. The computers are loaded with web design software and photo editing software to help business people build their own web sites. There is also a meeting room for business classes and seminars. Click here to find out more about the Small Business Resource Center.

Along one of the walls at the opposite corner of the floor, is a series of illustrations featuring inventions through the ages.

There are also many reports and governmental documents, including the Congressional Record, books on space exploration, volumes on the Labor board,  government statistics, treaties and constitutions from around the world, tax reports, world affairs, and stock records. There is even a collection of previously classified documents from the CIA, FBI, and Department of State, with such items as telegrams between ambassadors, and transcripts of phone conversations.

And you can even do some basic legal research, with references on Florida law, city ordinances, federal laws and codes, plus local building codes and fire codes.


SIXTH FLOOR
The sixth floor of the Main Library is the highest floor you can reach by the stairwell. Front and center from either the elevator or stairwell, is gallery six, a 4,400 sq. ft. area that features rotating exhibits by local artists, as arranged by the Broward Cultural Division's Cultural Information Center.

Behind the gallery, are the offices of the Broward Cultural Division. The Cultural Division helps develop the arts in Broward County and acts as a liaison between the County and other governmental agencies on cultural matters. The division publishes a monthly fine arts magazine, and purchases works of art for County facilities.

Bienes Museum of the Modern Book: The Dianne and Michael Bienes Special Collections and Rare Book Library is located in the east section of the floor. It has an elegant conference room and an exhibit gallery that features rare books and collectibles. The center also has archives of rare and precious books and artwork. Click here to view information and online exhibitions for Bienes Museum of the Modern Book: The Dianne and Michael Bienes Special Collections and Rare Book Library. 

In a less public section of the 6th floor is the Florida Center for the Book, which celebrates the literary heritage of Florida. The center brings readers and writers together and promotes books, reading, and libraries. Click here to find out about upcoming events and workshops for Florida Center for the Book.


SEVENTH AND EIGHTH FLOORS
The seventh floor is under construction for a new area. In addition to meeting rooms, the eighth floor contains administrative offices, the Broward Public Library Foundation, and Friends of the Broward County Library.