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New Year, New Library In Seffner

Tribune photo by D’ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

The Seffner-Mango Branch Library features a science room with scientific exhibits, telescopes, microscopes and life-size faux skeletons that students will be able to check out.

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

dlwhite@tampatrib.com

Published: December 31, 2008

SEFFNER - Seffner and Mango residents will usher in the New Year with a new library.

Although a grand-opening celebration isn't planned until Jan. 15, residents began using the 15,000-square-foot branch at 410 Kingsway Road north of Lopez Elementary School last week.

Beginning Jan. 5, the library will begin hosting programs for all ages to lure back patrons who have been without a library in the community since mid-November, when the county closed the Seffner-Mango Branch Library on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the Wal-Mart shopping center to begin moving materials to the new library.

However, Suzy George, systems chief librarian for the Tampa-Hillsborough County Library System, said residents will find it worth the wait.

The new library, twice the size of the old one, has a few other surprises in store for patrons, she said.

In addition to the nearly 41,500 books, audio books, DVDs, videotapes, CD-ROMs, music CDs and cassettes, and periodicals that were transferred from the old library, the library system has invested nearly $1 million in 35,000 new items in the collection.

Two days before Christmas, branch supervisor Jessica Rehbaum and her staff were busy making sure all items were in their places in preparation for the opening.

A separate children's library features paintings and cutouts of Florida wildlife. Child-size tables decorated with cutout inserts of indigenous plants, birds and insects were ready for pint-sized readers. The room is equipped with five computers. The branch gained six additional computers for a total of 17 with the move.

One exciting feature of the new library, George said, is the hands-on science center, which will operate in conjunction with the Museum of Science & Industry and local schools. The science center has exhibits, including a human-size faux skeleton, telescopes and microscopes that students can check out. And it will offer special programs related to science.

Other features include self-checkout machines, although librarians will still be available to check patrons out; a large community meeting room that can be divided into two small study rooms; free wireless Internet; photocopiers; and a public fax machine.

Charmaine Andrews, president of the Friends of the Seffner-Mango Branch Library, is looking forward to the nonprofit group having its own bookstore. The Friends have stocked the shelves of the store with as many hardback and paperback books, CDs and DVDs as they could collect. They will sell the items to raise money for library needs. Andrews said they will have a collection box at the bookstore for anyone who would like to donate books, CDs or DVDs in good condition.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 15, with Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean and members of the Hillsborough County Commission. Among the guests will be Commissioner Ken Hagan, who was instrumental in getting county funding to build the library, and members of the library board. Refreshments will follow the ceremony.

The Friends of the Library and the Greater Seffner-Mango Area Chamber of Commerce also will host a Community Day celebration Jan. 24 starting at 10:30 a.m. The event will include live music and other entertainment, a flag dedication and refreshments.

Construction of the $6.4 million library began in February after residents persuaded county officials to build it on 10 acres between Old Hillsborough Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The county previously had planned to use that land for a water plant or traffic complex. The remainder of the 25-acre, county-owned library parcel may be turned into a park. The library was built using Community Investment Tax funds, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1996.

Andrews said the only problem with the location is that Hillsborough Area Regional Transit doesn't provide bus service in that area. A number of library patrons used the bus to travel to the old library in the Wal-Mart shopping center.

"We've never had bus service in that area but, based on growth, I think there's a chance of convincing them to give us service," she said, noting that the library is half a mile from the county's Aging Service Program on Kingsway and 2 miles from the Brandon Area YMCA.

George agreed.

"We were able to get a bus stop at the South Shore library, and we're in talks with HART about a bus stop for the Town 'N Country library," she said. "I think bus service for the Seffner library is something we'll be talking to them about."

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524.

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