Broward County Library
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Type | Public Library |
| Established | 1974 |
| Location | Broward County, Florida |
| Branches | 38 |
| Collection | |
| Size | 3 million combined catalog |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | 10.5 million |
| Population served | 1,784,715 |
| Other information | |
| Director | Kelvin Watson |
| 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. There is a Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale, five regional libraries (two are located on Broward College campuses), and branches and reading centers throughout the county. The Broward County Library has more than one million library card holders who can choose from over three million library materials for public use, and card holders have access to the library's entire collection.
From 1963-1972 library activists Barbara Cooper, Joyce Gardner, Dr. Clint Hamilton, Robbie Kuland along with the support of the League of Women Voters, who were led by Mary Rose Lawson, worked together to establish a library subcommittee to improve library service in the county. 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 and 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 of 1974 for 270,000 items. There were initially only four library branches located in 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 to create public interest in the new library system. 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.
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