LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. (SNN TV) — The inside of the new Lakewood Ranch library seemed insulated from the drama after Manatee County commissioners voted to cut ties with the American Library Association.
The Lakewood Ranch Library, opening soon, is supervised by Tiffany Mautino from Kansas City. She told SNN the libraries are wonderful there, but they’re not opening new branches. So, she came to Manatee County to open the new one.
“This isn’t something many librarians get a chance to do in their career,” Mautino said. “It has stretched my skills maybe more than I realized. I’ve gotten to build a brand new team, which is amazing.”
The new library on Ridgeland Parkway will be the only library east of Interstate 75 and south of Manatee River in the county.
“This is not a Lakewood Ranch library. This is a library for Myakka, for Rosedale, people who don’t want to trek over to [the] Braden River [library],” said Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse.
The amenities in the new library include:
- A reading room with different seating options and conveniently placed outlets
- A teen area with its own books, plus a video game center with virtual reality, a Switch and a Playstation 5
- An outdoor play area
- A storytime room
- A recording room
- A workshop where you can use the 3D printer, sewing machines, coding equipment, and a Glowforge
- A rooftop for special events
- A drive-thru book pick-up/drop-off, the first in Manatee County
- Computers with free internet access
- 45,000 books, audiobooks, CDs, DVDs, magazines, and newspapers
“I treat this like a meaningful community amenity for Lakewood Ranch that happens to have books in it,” Kruse said. “We’ve got a podcast studio, [and] we’ve got a maker studio where kids can take STEM classes and adults can take sewing classes.”
So what do the amenities add up to? Twenty-four years into the 21st century, what is the purpose of your local library?
Mautino said it’s to be a community gathering place.
“We’re about learning, we’re about promoting literacy, we’re about promoting access to information,” she said. “We are that space that does not have any expectations of its guests.”
The grand opening for the Lakewood Ranch library is this Friday, Jan. 12 at 10 a.m. If you can’t make it, there are going to be other events over the weekend including a graffiti artist, the Lakewood Prep jazz band Saturday morning, a LEGO building program for kids, live sewing demos, comic book workshops, ukelele workshops Friday and Saturday, rooftop yoga Friday and Saturday, and food trucks outside.
