- April 29, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
Blake Erquiaga and Kelley Larkin of Sarasota County's Pop-Up Library eagerly welcomed the unexpected opportunity to meet Betty Jean Johnson on April 19.
The Pop-Up Library travels the county to offer books to underserved locations, but decades before its debut in 2023, Johnson had also established a traveling library.
That project eventually became the Betty J. Johnson North Sarasota Library, which serves the predominantly African American community of Newtown and celebrated its 20th anniversary on that day, April 19.
“I can’t describe it. It's just marvelous,” Johnson said of the feeling of being present that day.
The celebration involved remarks from Renee Di Pilato, director of Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources, County Commissioners Mark Smith and Joe Neunder, and Lois B. Wilkins, president of the Friends of the Betty J. Johnson North Sarasota Library, as well as various activities.
Johnson said she remembers a "very different" library system when Sarasota County hired her for a role at Sarasota Public Library, now Selby Library, where she worked for nearly 40 years.
"Kids were not introduced to the public library... so the kids in this community did not have that asset of being able to go into the library, select books, take them home, and sit in the library and read them," she said.
Johnson said access to Selby Library wasn't possible for many kids due to transportation.
She began the push for a library in Newtown, due to what she said was her desire for kids to have a library they could identify with, and feel they were a part of.
Johnson herself knew the impact that books could create, having had access to them her whole life.
“Reading is adventurous," she said. "You can go to many places through books. You may not ever go to that land, put that feet on that land, but you can imagine. Imagination comes from reading. When you learn to read, then you are open to learning. If you don't read and understand what you're reading, you're not open for learning.”
In 1979, with help from the Friends of the Library group she founded, she obtained a state grant of $10,000, using it to launch the mobile library service, which served five neighborhoods.
Even as the mobile library grew to a storefront, one operating on a small budget, Johnson and others continued to push for a full library.
The groundbreaking of the North Sarasota Library in 2003 was a dream come true.
In 2019, the renaming of the library honored Johnson, and they named the library's meeting room after Dr. Edward James II, the community activist who became the first African American to hold a public library card in Sarasota County.
Johnson said at its onset, the idea of the library was to build a Black collection of books. In many cases, she said, Black authors' books were not at other libraries.
"To be able to go in and actually pick up a book written by a Black author, that was something you didn't see," she said.
Johnson would provide suggestions for certain authors or books to include.
Library Manager Erin Clay said she is proud to be part of the library's legacy in the community.
“It's really a big honor,” she said. “I feel like it's very humbling, but also very just exciting to be a part of it. It's just a very meaningful job.”
Clay has worked in the library since 2016, initially in the role of assistant manager, while she was eager to apply for the role of manager when it became available in 2019.
“There’s to me, a little more energy than you find in some of the other libraries, and a really diverse range of people, different ages, backgrounds, everything,” she said.
Two of the library's patrons are Susan Gordon and her husband Stanley Gordon, who live in University Park Country Club and regularly volunteer at the library, which is the closest one in proximity to them.
“This is a friendly place. You get to talk to lots of people. It’s not just a place you get books,” Stanley said.
“I think the community essence of this library is different from any of the other libraries,” Susan said.
Another notable aspect of the library is its African American Cultural Resource Center. Created by the Friends, the center hosts books, periodicals, media, art and artifacts about African Americans, as well as African people in other parts of the world.
Johnson says kids can't immediately understand how to use this resource, and this is one area to which she wants to see more attention.
Clay said the library is looking at reimagining the space to make it more interactive, possibly with kiosks, with volunteers helping to digitize some of the local history to make it more accessible.
"We're always looking to expand that impact, especially for kids and students," Clay said.
Johnson said the center is a valuable resource when it comes to learning about local Black leaders in the community.
“Growing up, when you heard a Black person doing something historically important, they were never in the community where you live, and I often thought about that..." she said. "So now the kids have an opportunity to know that, yes, there are people who have done outstanding things right here in Sarasota."
Johnson said she hopes the community continues to use the library, calling libraries the "starting point for self-education and improvement."
She has simple advice for the community.
“The thing I encourage people to do is to go into the library, and if you don't see the book that you want, ask for it,” Johnson said.
