Community shares input on county-run Longboat library project

It was standing room only at the first public input session for Sarasota County’s public library project on Longboat Key.

When the meeting began around 1:30 p.m., the Town Commission chambers were completely filled, and the crowd flowed into the hallway. Around 100 people were in attendance. 

Town Manager Howard Tipton began the meeting by introducing the project, including a brief history of the Town Center Green project in general. 

But this meeting’s focus was on Phase 3 of the Town Center Green: a county-operated library. 

The purpose of the first public input session was to collect ideas from residents about what attributes were wanted in the project.

“And so this is a conversation that has been taking place for literally decades, and here we are at the threshold at actually starting phase 3,” Tipton said.

Tipton said the town finalized principles of agreement with the county in January 2023, which included a 50-year lease for the library, with extensions.

The library will be placed on a parcel on the southeast of the green that can accommodate about 11,000 square feet. The county’s early plans as of this meeting are for an 8,000 square foot base library project. 

Courtesy image

Architects Borrelli + Partners, Inc. also included about 5 to 7 feet of estimated elevation in the building’s preliminary drawings, to accommodate for base flood elevation. 

But the core library isn’t the only possibility. 

Paramount in the discussions is an optional extension, drawn up initially as a second story. Although the county is funding the construction of the base library, any extensions would need to be funded separately. 

The town’s hope is to fundraise for private contributions, with help from the Longboat Key Foundation. 

Tipton prefaced the project by saying that state-of-the-art libraries are not the same libraries that residents may be familiar with but that the project is still community-focused. 

“The idea is to take this space and create something that will really meet the community’s arts and cultural needs,” Tipton said.

After Tipton’s initial presentation, former Commissioner Irwin Pastor added some history of this project and emphasized the importance of the partnership between the county, town and architects. 

“I’m not surprised that this place is totally filled, because this is what Longboat Key is all about: people making sure Longboat Key stays Longboat Key,” Pastor said.

Then, the county team was up. 

Assistant County Administrator Brad Johnson said the county is trying to bring core library services to Longboat Key.

“Regardless of where you go in the county, you should be able to receive the same services from that branch library that you would in another community,” Johnson said. “And we want to ensure we’re bringing that to the Key, first and foremost.”

Director of Libraries and Historical Resources Renee Di Pilato said that libraries have changed “immensely” over the past decades, but the county strives to bring five core elements to libraries, including on Longboat Key. 

“In your library, you can expect to have a collection of a broad array of materials, a variety of educational programs for lifelong learning, meeting and gathering spaces, public technology and offerings for all ages,” Di Pilato said.

Despite a median age of 71 and the perception that Longboat Key is an older community, Di Pilato stressed the importance of including youth areas in the project. 

“We do have a population of children who are already taking advantage of our pop-up library that visits regularly, and they’ve told us how much they appreciate that service,” Di Pilato said.

Mixed bag of ideas and input

The goal of the meeting was to have an information session that would lead into breakout sessions — one for ideas about the core library and another to brainstorm possibilities for the expansion. 

At first, the crowd wanted more opportunity for public discussion. Some called out and asked when the town asked residents if a library is what they wanted in the first place. Another asked how the services would work for Manatee County residents. 

Di Pilato addressed the county confusion, stating that Manatee County residents would be able to access physical collections and attend any events or programming at the Sarasota County-operated library through a reciprocity agreement. 

But residents from other counties won’t be able to access digital collections, such as ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines and movies. 

That’s because digital collections are “very expensive” compared to physical ones, Di Pilato told the Longboat Observer. 

With physical collections, it’s a one-time purchase and the book can be loaned out as many times as possible until it deteriorates. 

But with digital collections, it’s like paying a licensing fee that’s only good for a certain amount of uses, usually around 26, according to Di Pilato. 

After the cap on uses is met, the collection would need to be purchased again to be borrowed. 

Di Pilato and Tipton responded to some comments before the meeting broke out into the two input sessions. 

In the chambers, residents were invited to learn more about the core library project, and provide input on what services they're looking for in that. 

Courtesy image

In the hallway, residents were giving ideas for the possible expansion. 

More general ideas addressed resident’s desires for more meeting space for community groups, space for art exhibits and an outdoor space. 

Ideas for outdoor space ranged from chess and checkers tables to a rooftop garden/patio. 

Some suggestions for technology enhancements included smartphone and tablet training, more audio-visual equipment in meeting spaces and virtual reality equipment.