50th Anniversary Special Edition Library Magazine

The Way We Were 1974-1984

Broward County Library opened with Fort Lauderdale, Riverland, Mizell and Hollywood branches; soon joined by Lauderdale Lakes, Coral Springs, Miramar, South Regional, Pembroke Pines branches. The Friends of Broward County Library group was formed.

1974 1975 1976

Talking Book Library and Books-By-Mail were started and the card catalog was phased out.

A fleet of three bookmobiles was established for areas without libraries.

1977

Lauderhill and West Broward (Tamarac) Library joined.

1978

Voters approved a $256 million library bond issue: Average home in Broward County assessed at $35K; average condo assessed at $26K; library tax cost was $1.59 per person, per year. Hallandale Library joined.

1980

1979

Margate and Sunrise Libraries joined and Dania Branch opened.

Silly Love Songs WINGS

Tonight’s the Night ROD STEWART

Shadow Dancing ANDY GIBB

The Way We Were BARBRA STREISAND

Love Will Keep Us Together CAPTAIN AND TENNILLE

Collier City and Rock Island branches opened, Deerfield Beach joined, and the site for Main Library was purchased.

1981 1982 1983

The South Regional/Broward College Library opened as the first combination of public and college library and a new library opened for Lauderhill. The Office of Cultural Affairs and Broward Arts Council became part of the library.

Hallandale Branch opened, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Lauderdale Lakes branches were expanded, and the site for Tamarac Branch was purchased.

My Sharona THE KNACK

When Doves Cry PRINCE

1984

Century Plaza, Carver Ranches and Cooper City branches were opened and the Broward Public Library Foundation was established.

Main Library opened and the Florida Center for the Book was started as the first affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

The Way We Were 1985-1995

The Way We Were 1985-1995

1985

1985

Main Library was designated as the 54th U.S. patent depository (reference library for patents), the Broward County Library (BCL) collection had one book for every resident, the SEFLIN (Southeast Florida Library Information Network) multi-library system created and the first fax machine in Broward County purchased for use there. Black History Month first celebrated

Main Library was designated as the 54th U.S. patent depository (reference library for patents), the Broward County Library (BCL) collection had one book for every resident, the SEFLIN (Southeast Florida Library Information Network) multi-library system created and the first fax machine in Broward County purchased for use there. Black History Month first celebrated

1988

1988

Imperial Point Branch joined the library system.

Imperial Point Branch joined the library system.

1987

1987

Lauderhill Mall Branch opened; music CDs became available for checkout.

Lauderhill Mall Branch opened; music CDs became available for checkout.

Main Library began serving Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University and Broward Community College. Main Library also recruited its first docents to give guided tours. The first Children’s Literature Conference was held, and recorded books on cassette tapes were made available to the public.

Main Library began serving Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University and Broward Community College. Main Library also recruited its first docents to give guided tours. The first Children’s Literature Conference was held, and recorded books on cassette tapes were made available to the public.

1989

1989

The First Annual Children’s Reading Festival was held. The Dial-a-Story service of recorded children’s stories accessible by telephone was launched, and the library did a staff exchange with libraries in the Soviet Union and Great Britain. Services for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons upgraded with TTY (teletypewriter) devices, TV decoders and closedcaption video technologies.

The First Annual Children’s Reading Festival was held. The Dial-a-Story service of recorded children’s stories accessible by telephone was launched, and the library did a staff exchange with libraries in the Soviet Union and Great Britain. Services for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons upgraded with TTY (teletypewriter) devices, TV decoders and closedcaption video technologies.

1990

Paper library cards were replaced with plastic ones carrying the “Everything Under the Sun” design. SunCat, BCL’s first digital library catalog was introduced.

Pompano Beach Library, Beach Branch and Northwest Branch joined. First Lady Barbara Bush honored Jean Trebbi, Executive Director of Florida Center for the Book, for her participation in “Year of the Lifetime Reader”campaign .

Careless Whisper WHAM!

That’s What Friends Are For DIONNE WARWICK & FRIENDS

Walk Like an Egyptian THE BANGLES

GEORGE MICHAEL Look Away

CHICAGO

As the system grew, 50% of Broward County residents had a BCL library card; a foreign language collection started and a bilingual librarian was hired to curate Spanish language programs and materials; automated catalogs for kids and adults, Smart Alex and WiseGuide, offered for remote, online access to the library catalog.

1991 1992 1995 1993

Century Plaza, Carver Ranches and Cooper City branches were opened and the Broward Public Library Foundation was established.

Galt Ocean Mile Reading Center opened. More than 100 authors appeared at BCL literary events during the year, including actress Audrey Hepburn, novelists Peter Matthiessen and Dick Francis, author/chef Patricia Wells and political cartoonist Jim Morin.

Hold On WILSON PHILLIPS

(Everything I Do) I Do It for You BRYAN ADAMS

End of the Road BOYZ II MEN I Will Always Love You 1994

WHITNEY HOUSTON

The new North Regional/ Broward College Library, and the Weston Reading Center, opened. Author and poet Maya Angelou spoke before a crowd of 4,000 people at the Collier City Branch. Florida Center for the Book received a $500,000 grant from the Florida Legislature to develop a cultural resource center to house the Main Library’s special collections and rare books. BCL was the only U.S. library to be honored by President Bill Clinton as “a national model of learning” for its Family Learning Services Center.

MAYA ANGELOU

The Way We Were 1996-2010 1996

1999

BCL celebrated 25 years of service. The library system had 35 locations: Main, three regional libraries, 27 branch libraries and four reading centers. Broward County voters approved a $139.9 million bond measure to purchase one million more books, add computer centers.

Broward County Library (BCL) was named “Library of the Year,” by Library Journal.The Broward Community Technology Center opened at Main Library.

2000

Grand opening was held for Southwest Regional Library at Pembroke Pines Academic Village. New computers were installed in 18 branches through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

2005

A new logo was created for BCL

2003

Robert Cannon became BCL’s director. Stirling Road Branch and Tamarac Branch opened. The first StoryBook Festival was held. eBooks were added to the collection for the first time.

2007

West Regional Library opened. South Regional/ Broward College Library opened as Broward County’s first LEED-certified green building, affirming that it was designed to provide clean indoor air, ample natural light and safe building materials.

OLD LOGO

NEW LOGO

1997

Each One Teach One , the Learning Services literacy program, matched more than 200 non-reading students with adult tutors. A new, computerized catalog called “BIG CAT” was introduced, offering materials catalog, information databases and internet.

2001

BCL reached the milestone of one million library card holders. Northwest Regional Library opened. Nova Southeastern University (NSU)/Alvin Sherman Library opened.

LEVAR BURTON, “BIG CAT”, SAMUEL MORRISON

1998

JM Family Enterprises, Inc., partnered to expand and renovate the Collier City Learning Library, which took on the name of benefactor Jan Moran in 2003. Tamarac Library opened.

2002

African American Research Library and Cultural Center (AARLCC) opened. Director Samuel F. Morrison retired after 25 years of leadership.

2004

Lauderhill Towne Center Library was built. Main Library celebrated its 20th anniversary. Approximately 2,000 people participated in the One Book One Broward project to read Tuesdays with Morrie together. English Café and Crossroads Café were introduced to help speakers of other languages improve their English.

2009

A free, one-on-one online tutoring service, Broward E-Tutor, launched. eReaders became available for check out.

AARLCC GROUNDBREAKING

2010

Public Wi-Fi was installed in all BCL locations.

JAN MORAN

The Way We Were 2011-2024

2014

BCL celebrated 40 years (1974 – 2014). The Creation Station opened at Main Library, a makerspace community center equipped with state-of-the-art computers and 3D printers, to become the first free community makerspace/gadget lab in Broward County. Destination Fridays, a themed adult social gathering, was launched at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center (AARLCC).

2018

Launchpad tablets preloaded with fun, educational apps were offered to children, providing age-appropriate, grade-level content in a secure format.

MERGE Cubes, holographic toys that allow users to physically hold and interact with 3D objects using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology, became available to customers.

2011

BCL WOW (Broward County Library Without Walls) mobile app launched. BCL was one of the first libraries in the nation to promote eBooks using a QR code at an airport.

2015

BCL received the “Library of the Year” award from the Florida Library Association in recognition of its response to the changing

2019

MERGE Headsets that brought MERGE’s 3D content to life were added for check out. Special software was installed on public computers, offering Adobe Creative Cloud for web design, photography and videography and JAWS (Job Access with Speech) screen reader software for

The Florida Library Association again named BCL “Library of the Year” for outreach initiatives including “Air, Land and Sea,” which expanded library service points to unusual and unexpected places, including the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. BCL became the first library in the U.S. to use Amazon Echo devices for linguistic translation with customers. BCL introduced virtual visits, offering a specially curated 3D exhibit to AARLCC Special Collections. Kanopy, and Kanopy Kids, the free, on-demand streaming video platforms. Broward County Libraries was selected to receive the ALA“Library of the Future” award for its innovative use of Amazon’s Echo to communicate with English-language learners.

2012 2013

BCL began offering free music downloads with Freegal. The Young At Art Museum/ Broward County Library opened.

BCL debuted Fast Lane, consisting of dedicated computer stations offering a quick, easy way for customers to check out books, DVDs and CDs.

2016 2017

2021

BCL’s Workforce Ready program lent Chromebook laptops and internet hotspots to support digital equity among job applicants. Students in kindergarten through third grade were able to check out iPads and keyboards to participate in the library’s Summer

Wireless hotspots became available for all to borrow, enabling customers to use the internet at no cost.

Partnering with T-Mobile, BCL initiated the Veterans Connect Hotspot Program to provide Wi-Fi hotspots and network access to local veterans, active military members and their dependents. The Active Learning Center educational play space for children under age five opened at Main Library, complete with computer-based AWE Early Literacy Stations. BCL introduced Axis 360 (recently renamed Boundless), an online service for accessing kids’ eBooks.

Customers were presented with the Palace Project, a new mobile app with streamlined access to the library’s holdings, making it and easier to search the catalog, find eBooks and eAudiobooks.

New services included free downloadable magazines, streaming independent films and classic TV shows. Macmillan Publishers added to the eBook collection for access to an additional 1,150 crime and mystery titles. Check out receipts began displaying the cost of items borrowed to show the amount a customer saves by borrowing with a library card and the value of funding libraries.

BCL celebrated its 50th Anniversary. AARLCC launched Black history classes and new Africana Arts & Humanities Festival. North Lauderdale Branch’s Creation Station Science was expanded. Library won FLA’s Intellectual Freedom award and Director Allison Grubbs was named Administrator of the Year by FLA. 2024 Learning Program.

FEBRUARY COVER STORY

The February issue of Library Magazine honors three pioneering African American leaders from BCL’s 50-year history.

SAMUEL F. MORRISON joined BCL in 1974 as assistant director and served as deputy director from 1976-1987, when BCL grew from two branches to 25 branches. Following a directorship in the Chicago Public Library’s Harold Washington Library Center, he returned to BCL as director and worked in that position until his retirement in 2003. Under his leadership, BCL was awarded Library of the Year in 1996 and grew to 38 branches. During his tenure as director, Mr. Morrison envisioned, fundraised and established the African American Research Library and Cultural Center (AARLCC), presiding over its grand opening in October 2002. He remains an active and beloved supporter of BCL and AARLCC.

TYRONE BRYANT (d.1988) served as BCL assistant director for special services and as the head of its Libraryin-Action program, an outreach service for minority neighborhoods, which Mr. Bryant established in Broward County in 1976. By his efforts in galvanizing the community and convincing residents to use federal funds for libraries, Library-In-Action branches were created in Collier City, Carver Ranches, Rock Island, Dania and at the Von D. Mizell Multi-Purpose Center in Fort

Lauderdale. Mr. Bryant added the Homework Assistance Program, bookmobile and books-by-mail projects as well as the “Footmobile” service where Mr. Bryant and his staff went door-to-door promoting the library, delivering books and campaigning for literacy.

JULIE VARNER HUNTER

(d. 2022) came to BCL in 2002 to serve as executive director of the newly opened African American Research Library and Cultural Center. Among her achievements there were coordinating the Ashley Bryan

Art Series Conference and the acquisition of archival collections such as the Esther Rolle Collection in 2005. Ms. Hunter went on to become BCL’s Associate Director for Public Service; she was promoted to BCL Associate Director in 2007 and then to BCL Assistant Library Director, a post she occupied until her retirement in 2013. Ms. Hunter received the Florida Library Association’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of her many accomplishments as a 47-year esteemed library professional.

SAMUEL F. MORRISON

JULIE VARNER HUNTER

TYRONE BRYANT

MARCH COVER STORY

Women have always been leaders at Broward County Library (BCL), from its earliest days to the present. Three notable examples from among hundreds of exceptional employees were selected for our magazine cover:

JEAN TREBBI (d. 2023) began her 30-year career with BCL in 1974, joining as a reference librarian and advancing to head of Main Library. Her many achievements include creating and hosting the cable TV show

Library Edition; co-founding the Key West Literary Seminar; founding the Florida Center for the Book, the first affiliate of the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book; and curating an important collection of over 300 alphabet books, which she donated to the Bienes Center for the Book in Main Library.

SKYE PATRICK came to BCL from the Queens Public Library, serving as Director from 2013 to 2016, the second African American, the first openly LGBTQ person, and first woman to hold the position.

Women’s History Month Women’s History Month

Her three years were marked by a surge in technologybased initiatives, including the opening of Creation Station makerspaces at Main and regional libraries and Creation Station Business at Main Library. This emphasis, coupled with early learning and quality programming initiatives, brought multiple awards, including Florida 2015 Library of the Year from the Florida Library Association.

JOANN BLOCK joined BCL in 1978 as the librarian in charge of Bookmobile Service, later heading Disability Services for people who are blind and homebound, a position she held for 25 years. Through her grant writing and leadership, the burgeoning section for Talking Books and Books by Mail modernized from hand processing to computerization. Her bold initiatives included hosting a weekly WLRN Radio Reading Service show The Loquacious Librarian and developing annual events such as the Disabilities Expo; White Cane Awareness Day; and Meet the Narrators of recorded books from Insight for the Blind.

DEERFIELD BEACH LIBRARY, 1964

A photo of a library worker from the Deerfield Beach City Library, 1964. Before it was a Broward County Library, the Deerfield Beach Branch was a city library that originally opened in 1925. Throughout the history of libraries, women have been the primary workforce for the institutions.

JEAN TREBBI

SKYE PATRICK

BARBARA MURPHY, JOANN BLOCK

DEERFIELD BEACH LIBRARY, 1964

APRIL COVER STORY

BCL WOW

From 2012 to 2020, the library system was branded as BCL WoW: Broward County Library Without Walls, promoting the library’s quickly expanding variety of free online resources from eBooks and eAudiobooks to streaming movies and music.

CREATION STATION

HELPING HANDS PROJECT

Leonardo V., a boy from Bolivia, was one of five children worldwide selected to receive a hand 3D printed by Broward County Library (BCL) staff in the Main Library Creation Station, a free community makerspace and gadget lab. BCL’s Creation Station partnered with Nova Southeastern University’s Occupational Therapy Department and the e-NABLE Project/3D Mechanical HandMaker Movement to create plastic prosthetic hands using the Creation Station’s 3D printers.

MERGE CUBE

MERGE cubes and headsets were part of a unique pilot program launched in 2018 designed to bring innovative, cutting-edge technology to the community, allowing library card holders to check out digital tablets, robotic equipment, portable internet hot spots and more. The cube allows users to hold digital 3D objects, offering ways to explore and interact with the digital world.

MASK EXTENDERS

The Creation Station put its 3D printers to use by manufacturing mask extenders for face masks worn as protection from the COVID virus. The extenders were given away free as a community service.

During the COVID pandemic, BCL stepped up in a variety of ways. These efforts took the form of sewing masks, passing out COVID testing kits, instituting curbside service, offering programs onlineand sharing information about available resources through customer emails and social media. Use of the library’s online resources such as eBooks and streaming movies surged during the pandemic.

VIRTUAL AARLCC

The African American Research Library and Cultural Center

(AARLCC) embarked on a digitization project with 20 African artifacts from their Special Collections. AARLCC staff 3D scanned artifacts to produce virtual models accessible at AARLCC.Broward. org. This virtual exhibit allows viewers to interact with the artifacts in novel ways, such as viewing them more closely from all angles, downloading objects, and enjoying curated information related to the artifacts.

Customer Memories

While writing my dissertation in 2003/04, I worked every weekday in the FAU room in the back of the Periodicals Department of the Main Library. That facility and the great people who worked in the department were instrumental in my completing my Doctorate. I will always be grateful to the library and its staff for their invaluable assistance and resources.

— Blaine, B

I have very fond memories of visiting the South Regional Library as a kid. It was located in an old supermarket on the SW corner of Johnson St. & 441. They are building a large apartment building on that site now. It was where I got my very first library card and checked out Fantastic Voyage. I was hooked. My mom would bring me there, and I would literally check out bags of books every couple of weeks. Eventually, the South Regional Library moved into its own building on the BCC campus as I was at the end of high school, and a few years ago moved into that wonderful building it is in now. The library has been a big part of my life, and I am very grateful for it.— Marcy, K

From 1969 thru 1972 I would go to the library by Holiday Park. I loved going there on Saturdays to do homework, term papers or just go to read and get out of the house. During junior high it was a social thing meeting up with friends on weekends. I still love to read and use the Alvin Sherman library at NSU for events and reading.

— Sharon, L

I was a high school English teacher in 1998 when I won a scholarship for a master’s degree in Library Sciences. My first classes were at the Broward County Main Library The building was stunning, with sunlight streaming in and a water feature that brought the outside world in. Because of the loving energy, I became a librarian and served for 22 years all over Miami before finally retiring to Broward a few years ago. Back then the library was the center of my universe. It still is all these years later!

— MJ,M