The BENIN: A Kingdom in Bronze exhibit featured hundreds of extraordinary sculptures and artifacts from The Ebohon Cultural Center in Benin City, Nigeria. Dr. Osewegie Ebohon spoke at the grand opening ceremony at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale. Click here to view photos of the BENIN: A Kingdom in Bronze  exhibit. Also, a 150-page, full-color catalog was created to commemorate this exhibit. 

Broward County Library celebrated the grand opening ceremony on December 9 for the exhibit Journey through the Imagination of Jules Verne. This incredible exhibit of the renowned science fiction author includes personal artifacts, including original manuscripts and posters, Verne's model of Captain Nemo's Nautilus, and other one-of-a-kind memorabilia.

The collection, belonging to French city of Amiens Metropole, was originally assembled by Piero Gondolo Della Riva, one of the world's foremost collectors of Jules Verne items. It focuses on the life of this extraordinary writer as well as his imaginary journeys into the worlds of science, technology and exploration which resulted in his world-famous novels that inspired international pop culture. Broward County Library is the first location to display this exhibit outside of Europe.

Click here to view information about Jules Verne as well as view some of the original items on display until January 20, 2006. 

November 2005

In the last twelve months, as Broward County Library reached new heights, several library records were eclipsed, including:

• Over 10 million people visited one or more Broward County Libraries
• New library card registrations increased 31%
• 652,928 people attended library programs
• 37% more people signed up to use a library computer for a new high of 2.5 million people
• 838,197 items “on hold” were provided to customers
• 291 full time, part time and student library employees were hired
• 106 library employees were promoted to higher paying jobs

October 2005

The Board of County Commissioners adopted the library’s “Customer Service Improvement Plan 2005-2009” August 30, 2005.  “Broward County Libraries intends to be the most rapid service provider, best innovator in service delivery and the most aggressive, forward moving, customer friendly and customer centered public library in the nation.”  Click here to see the entire Plan.

September 2005

The milestone of reaching over 1,000 library customers monthly with the library’s “E-Newsletter” was reached in August. Anyone can subscribe to the “E-Newsletter” by going to the Home Page, www.broward.org/library, and clicking on "E-Newsletter" in the left hand column.

Current lists of new movies and audio books are also updated frequently on the Home Page. See: Movies/Audiobooks  in the right hand column. Then go to the Catalog to see where the titles are located, put those on hold if you wish to reserve and have them sent to any Broward County Library for pick up.

August 2005

In order to recover long overdue unreturned library materials, Unique Management Services, a company that specializes in library collections throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, will begin operations to assist the Broward County Library in its recovery efforts.       

July 2005

The A.D. Henderson Foundation has awarded the library a grant for the program “Prime Time II”, an intergenerational program that utilizes seniors as volunteers to read to disadvantaged children in federally subsidized childcare centers. Seniors will be trained as story tellers and will conduct a story hour over ten weeks at a host childcare site. Story “kits” will be developed, consisting of books, music, puppets, rhymes and other materials. The “kits” will be organized by theme, with some in Spanish and French/Creole.

New improvement to our Internet Home Page: By clicking on Library Locations, new information appears which provides a library locator map, zip code locator and additional information on each library. Coming soon: pictures of all library locations, including the many libraries under construction.

The Broward County Library has over 500 E-Audiobooks with over 30 new titles added each month. Click here to learn about this new service.

Beginning June 19, as a pilot project to measure customer Sunday use, the Stirling Road Branch Library, 3151 Stirling Road (954-985-2689) will be open Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. but will close Mondays. Other libraries open on Sundays are the African American Research Library and Cultural Center (954-625-2800) the Main Library (954-357-7444) North Regional Library (954-201-2600) Northwest Regional Library (954-341-3900) South Regional Library (954-201-8825) Southwest Regional Library (954-538-9996) and the West Regional Library (954-831-3300).

Watch for the Ribbon Cutting for the new Northwest Branch Library Tuesday, July 19, 2005 at 10 a.m.!

June 2005

Improvements to the library's Home Page include icons for the Florida Center for the Book (the first and oldest such Library of Congress Center in the world) the Bienes Center for the Literary Arts and an E-Suggestion box. On-line databases and the library card application are more prominent and easier to navigate. Up to 70,000 individual computers access the library's Home Page each month.

The Broward County Library currently has six new libraries under construction, 270,000 square feet in total:

Northwest Branch (10,000 square feet) Weston Branch (30,000 square feet with 20,000 square feet for Broward Community College on the second floor) Hollywood Branch (30,000 square feet with 20,000 square feet for the City of Hollywood on the second floor) North Lauderdale Branch (20,000 square feet) West Regional Library (70,000 square feet) and South Regional/BCC Library (70,000 square feet).

Carver Ranches Branch is currently under renovation and expansion as well.

May 2005

Through the addition of two full time professional bilingual storytellers, regular bilingual story programs at various locations throughout the library system are now available. The programs include puppetry, storytelling, traditional songs and arts and crafts. Such programs are also available to local schools and youth organizations.

Look for the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new 70,000 square foot South Regional/BCC Library, Thursday, May 12, at 10 a.m.

Fiction and non-fiction Spanish language “best sellers” are now purchased for Broward County's Spanish language reading public. Six titles are received each month for the 23 Broward County libraries that have Spanish language collections. Titles received include original Spanish language materials or books translated into Spanish. Translations may include recent English language “best sellers”. South Florida interests as well as popular titles in Spanish speaking countries are reflected in the monthly selections.

Four recent acquisitions include: El Codigo Da Vinci  (Dan Brown) Las Cinco Personsas que Encontraras en el Cielo  (Mitch Albom) El Bosque de los Pigmeos  (Isabel Allende) and Aprendices de Brujo  (Antonio Orlando Rodriguez).

April 2005

In addition to including a keychain card along with the wallet sized card, this new Broward County Library card includes the library's web address, renewal telephone number and signature strip above important information including the statement that “Parents or Guardians of minors are responsible for the child's use of library materials and computer access.”

March 2005

In a continuing program to improve and expand Broward County Library's Web site, new Web site features include:

Best Sellers – New York Times  Best Sellers List with links to the books in Broward County Library's Catalog. Click here to access the Best Sellers List.

2004 IRS Income Tax Forms – Links to income tax forms and important tax information. Click here to access 2004 IRS Tax Forms.

Zip Code Search – Search for a local library near you by zip code.
Click here to search for your zip code.

Last month, more than 44,000 computers accessed the Library's Home Page, viewing more than 600,000 pages.

Broward County Library also distributed its 2004 Annual Report. Click here to view a pdf version.

February 2005

 
 

On February 25, the Margate Catharine Young Branch had a rededication ceremony. The branch is reopening after a complete renovation and expansion, adding 5,000 square feet for a total of 15,000 square feet. The renovation is part of the $139.9 million library bond issue approved by Broward County voters in 1999. The improvements include new fixtures and refurbishing of public areas, new computers, new air conditioning, enlarged parking lot with new lighting, and additional seating. The exterior also received new landscaping and sidewalks with a connection to the senior center nearby.

January 2005



As a result of the allocation of additional funds to the library's FY05 budget, the two-year-old African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Boulevard, will be open seven days a week instead of five. The new hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday 1 pm to 5 pm. Over 300,000 people visited the library in the past year.