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 1973 The Broward County Commission approves the establishment of a county library system on January 9 and directs county administrator Robert Kauth to move forward with plans to hire a county library director. Consultant F. William Summers produces a plan for countywide library service that recommends a large central information facility and neighborhood branches. |
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| 1974 Broward County Library is established as a division of county government with a budget of $1.5 million and a collection of 270,000 books. Stephen Whitney is the director. The new library system begins issuing cards on June 17. There are four library branches: Fort Lauderdale, Riverland, Mizell and Hollywood. During the first year, the city libraries in Lauderdale Lakes, Coral Springs and Miramar join the county system. The Friends of the Broward County Library are formed to create public interest in the new library system. Click here to view the first Broward County Library brochure. Click here to read the story of the bond issues. |
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| 1975 The 14-member Library Advisory Board is established, with Barbara Cooper as chair. Pembroke Pines city library joins. A South County library is opened in leased space in Hollywood. The library system's annual budget is $1.7 million. Bookmobile service began in areas of the county without libraries. |
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| 1976 Library outreach service to economically disadvantaged people, called Library-in-Action, is established, headed by Tyrone Bryant and funded by a LSCA grant of $155,736. The library receives another LSCA grant of $29,715 to provide service to blind and physically handicapped people. |
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| 1977 A branch is opened in Tamarac. The city library in Lauderhill joins. Former state librarian Cecil Beach is hired as director following the departure of Stephen Whitney. |
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| 1978 The city library in Hallandale joins. Talking Books and Books-by-Mail are established. A public improvements bond issue, which includes $31.8 million for libraries, is passed. The Friends of the Library spearheaded the bond issue promotion, called Libraries Don't Grow on Trees. People Build Them. |
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| 1979 The city libraries of Dania, Margate and Sunrise join the county system. |
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| 1980 The new Collier City and Rock Island branches open, funded by a federal block grant to serve economically disadvantaged areas. The Deerfield Beach city library joins the library system. |
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| 1981 North Lauderdale city library joins. The new Hallandale Branch opens, funded by the 1978 bond issue. Von D. Mizell Branch moves to larger leased quarters down the street in a new community center. The Tamarac, Hollywood, Lauderdale Lakes, and Fort Lauderdale branches are expanded and renovated with bond issue funds. The literacy program is established. |
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| 1982 The new Century Plaza Branch opens in leased storefront. New bond issue libraries for Coral Springs and Davie/Cooper City open. The new Carver Ranches Branch opens, funded by a federal block grant. The Miramar, Pembroke Pines, and South County libraries are closed to make way for new facilities. The Broward Public Library Foundation is established enhance the library system's collections, programs and services beyond the means of public funding. |
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| 1983 New bond issue libraries open: West Regional Library, South Regional/Broward Community College (BCC) Library, Lauderhill City Hall. South Regional/BCC Library is the first joint-use public-college library in the state of Florida. |
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| 1984 The new 260,000 square-foot, $49 million Main Library, funded by the 1978 bond issue, opens in April. The eight-story multi-purpose building is hailed as a symbol of the resurgence of business, government, and cultural activity in the downtown Fort Lauderdale area. Florida Center for the Book, the first affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, opens. The library system celebrates its 10th anniversary in October with Book Bash, a huge used book sale and street fair, and a birthday bash with entertainment and activities for all ages. |
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| 1985 The library system's collection now has one book for every single county resident. |
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| 1986 Lauderhill Mall branch opens in leased space with assistance from the city. Riverland Branch is expanded and renovated with bond issue funds. Document delivery by fax service begins with fax machines at all branches. An annual Staff Development Day is launched. |
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| 1987 The Automated Library Information System (ALIS) is upgraded. Main Library begins service to students and faculty at the nearby Florida Atlantic University (FAU)/Florida International University (FIU) University Tower. BCL’s first docent program begins at the Main Library. |
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| 1988 The new Imperial Point Branch opens, partially funded by the 1978 bond issue. The Rock Island Branch is renamed in honor of Tyrone Bryant. The Century Plaza Branch moves to larger leased quarters in same shopping center. |
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| 1989 The library celebrates the Year of the Young Reader with a Love Me, Read to Me campaign and the first annual Children's Reading Festival. A Listening and Viewing Center, funded by the Broward Public Library Foundation, opens in the Main Library. Services for deaf and hard-of-hearing people are upgraded with a federally-funded state grant that provides TTY devices for selected branches, TV decoders for loan, and closed-captioned videos. The library's annual budget is $22.2 million. |
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| 1990 A new CD-ROM catalog, called SunCat, is introduced. Samuel F. Morrison becomes the new library director after the promotion of Cecil Beach to Broward County Public Services Department Director. |
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| 1991 Pompano city library joins the county system, adding three branches: Beach Branch, Northwest Branch, Pompano Beach Branch. |
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| 1992 Galt Ocean Mile Reading Center opens in leased space with assistance from the city. The school board's FDLRS media center moves to the Main Library. |
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| 1993 Deerfield Beach Branch is expanded and renovated with assistance from a state construction grant. A new online catalog, called WiseGuide is launched. The school board's professional collection is integrated into the Main Library collection. |
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 1994The library system kicks off its 20th anniversary with an appearance by Maya Angelou at the Collier City Branch. The Hollywood Beach Reading Center opens in a community center with assistance from the city. The West Atlantic Branch and the Weston Reading Center open in leased spaces. The North Regional/BCC library opens the second joint-use public-college facility in Florida. Fort Lauderdale Branch is renovated to add the ArtServe cultural center. Large collections of Spanish materials are added to ten libraries. The SEFLIN Free-Net is launched. The Office of Hispanic Affairs is established. |
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| 1995 New Sunrise Dan Pearl Branch opens, partially funded by a LSCA grant. Dania Beach Branch and Century Plaza moves to larger quarters in leased space. The former Sunrise Branch is renamed Sunset Strip. The library's website is established. |
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 1996Broward County Library wins the Library of the Year award from Library Journal and Gale Research. A new BIG (Broward's Information Gateway) library card is introduced and the online information system is renamed BIGCAT. The Broward Community Technology Center opens at the Main Library and computer kiosks are open at malls in Pompano and Pembroke Pines. The Bienes Center for the Literary Arts: The Dianne and Michael Bienes Special Collections and Rare Book Library opens on the sixth floor of the Main Library. Funded by the Bienes', the 8,300 square-foot facility has a 5,000-item collection, humidity and temperature-controlled stacks, exhibit areas, and spaces for programs and meetings. |
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| 1997 A Women's Resource Center Library opens at Hollywood Medical Center with assistance from Broward County Library. |
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| 1998 The Tamarac Popular Library opens in leased storefront space. The Small Business Resource Center opens at the Main Library, a joint venture with NationsBank. The library's online information system undergoes a major upgrade and conversion to frame-relay data transmission. |
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| 1999 A $139.9 million bond issue, called Better Libraries for A Better Broward, is approved by 72% of voters. The Pembroke Pines Branch opens, the first joint venture of county, city and middle school. The Hollywood Beach Branch is renamed in honor of Bernice P. Oster, and the Dania Beach Branch is renamed in honor of Paul DeMaio. A groundbreaking ceremony is held for the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center. The library system celebrates it's 25th birthday with the theme Building on a Tradition of Service. The library's annual budget is now $33.5 million. Click here to read the story of the bond issues. |
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| 2000 Southwest Regional Library opens at Pembroke Pines Academic Village. It is the first new building funded by the 1999 bond issue and is a joint venture with the city. The new Web version of the library catalog debuts. New Computer Technology Centers open in seven libraries, and 18 libraries get a total of 97 new computers funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Broward County Library is named Florida's first Library of Promise, part of the Governor's Mentoring Initiative. |
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| 2001 Northwest Regional Library opens, funded by the bond issue and the city. The Galt Ocean Mile Reading Center is expanded and the Dania Beach Paul DeMaio Branch and Weston Reading Center both move into larger quarters funded by the bond issue. After many delays, construction begins for the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center. The state-of-the-art $43 million Library Research and Information Technology Center opens at Nova Southeastern University. It is the first public-private library partnership in Florida and the state's largest library, with 325,000 square feet. A Cultural Information Center opens at the Main Library, funded by the Cultural Affairs Division. |
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| 2006 In January, Broward County Library premiered the first streaming video fully produced in-house on its website www.broward.org/library. The new Weston Branch opened on February 16. The new two-story, 50,000 square-foot building was funded by the bond issue. The Carver Ranches Branch opened on March 30 with six-day-aweek service. The refurbished building is funded by the bond issue. In April, downloads of the online version of the library’s monthly magazine, Bookings, exceeded the print version. In June, Broward County Library opened two branches in just a few weeks. The new Hollywood Branch Library also funded by the bond issue opened on June 8. The new building is two-story with a forward thinking design that will allow the building to increase to four stories in the future. The new North Lauderdale Saraniero Branch opened on June 24. The new building is funded by the bond issue. The 20,000 square foot library offers service six days instead of five. In Fiscal Year 2006 (October 2005 – September 2006), the traffic for Broward County Library’s website reached almost 1.8 million electronic visitors and almost 5.7 million page views. In comparison, in Fiscal Year 2005, 894,296 electronic visitors and 1.4 million page views were recorded. |
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On February 1, 2007, Broward County Library opened the first green building in Broward County -- the new South Regional/BCC Library. On October 26, 2007, the new West Regional Library opened to the public with almost 500 people at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. |
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