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August 16, 2009 continued NOW IT'S TIME (continued) The two-story 50,000-square-foot library on the campus of Lake-Sumter Community College features a colorful children's room, a trendy teen room, a cafe, wireless Internet access, modern furniture, 125 public computers and other high-tech gadgets. It's all surrounded by a collection of 75,000 items — including books, magazines, DVDs, music CDs and newspapers. The library — a joint effort of the county, LSCC, the University of Central Florida and the Friends of Cooper Memorial Library — will be open to college students and the public. At a cost of nearly $14 million, the new library off Oakley Seaver Drive is a gem in the hills of south Lake and of the county's six-branch library system. "It is just a beautiful building," said Tracy Swank, Lake's regional library branch manager, standing next to large windows on the second floor overlooking the hills of south Lake County. From those windows, one can see the landmark Citrus Tower, the National Training Center and State Road 50. "When a storm moves in, it's just amazing to watch it from here," she said. The chichi new library is far larger than the old Cooper Memorial Library at 821 W. Minneola Ave., which had 7,200 square feet of space. And it is also the latest in a recent string of new Lake libraries. Minneola opened a new library in April inside a renovated historic schoolhouse on South Main Avenue. Last year, the county opened the new Cagan Crossings Community Library off U.S. Highway 27 in the Four Corners area. And in 2007, Leesburg opened a new library on East Main Street. Also, Lady Lake plans to build a two-story library behind its existing library on West Guava Street. Judy Buckland, program coordinator for the Lake County Library System, said the area's booming growth in recent years has created a need for bigger and better libraries. Buckland pointed out that Lake libraries have averaged 1,722 new borrowers every month since October 2008. Circulation — the number of times books and other materials are checked out and returned — increased by more than 14 percent, to more than 2 million, from 2007 to 2008. Libraries' importance In a depressed economy with rising layoffs, libraries' importance magnifies. Laid-off residents often need assistance and Internet access to find information about employment, social services, food stamps and other programs. "People need a community center where they can access all this information and programs at no charge," Buckland said. The new Cooper library cost $12.7 million to construct, and about $1.26 million for furniture. The cost was paid primarily with funds from the county, LSCC, UCF and private donations. The project also received about $6.5 million in state matching funds. Monday's opening is the latest chapter in the century-old history of the Clermont library. The library first opened in 1906 in a home's living room with families paying 50-cent membership fees to check out materials. In 1938, the library was named Cooper Memorial Library after the Cooper family donated land to the library board. 'Just wonderful' In 1980, the library moved to a bank building on Montrose Street. But in 2004, the library was forced to shut down because of a leaky roof and mold. A year later, the library moved to a downtown Clermont storefront that once housed Hughes Supply Co. Construction on the new library started last year. "It's just wonderful," Buckland said. "We now have a beautiful, beautiful library." |
