By MARLENE SOKOL, Times Staff Writer
Published January 14, 2005
UPPER TAMPA BAY - Somewhere in the crush of people between the book checkout line and the free food, a woman asked, "Will this be your library?"
I can't say for sure who it was. A mother from soccer? My children's former school librarian? Or one of the other hundreds who double-parked on this beautiful Saturday morning to celebrate the opening of the county's newest library?
Of course it's my library. I live here. Not within the precise boundaries of Westchase, not in the more imprecise area known as Upper Tampa Bay, but in Hillsborough County.
I own a house here. I pay real estate taxes here. Even if I didn't, even if I rented an apartment or slept in the next county over, I would call this place my own.
The government built this place for me and you and everyone who wants to use it, because that's what government does. Think of it as a form of socialism. No matter how much money you pay or don't pay, as a member of the public (there is nothing more imprecise than "public") you are a de facto consumer at the Upper Tampa Bay Regional Public Library.
Few people understand this concept better than Maureen Gauzza, the blue-eyed Westchase grandmother whose hard work, charisma and sheer force of will made this five-year dream a reality.
Celebrating with a crowd that overflowed into the DVD aisles and the children's book room and clear out into the parking lot, Gauzza thanked the people of Countryway, Charleston Corners, Fawn Ridge and Twin Branch Acres, who all linked arms with her and helped get the library off the ground.
She was careful not to refer to it as the "Westchase" library. Years ago, fellow library booster Paul Hauck, who lives in Twin Branch Acres, advised Gauzza to strike the "W" word from her vocabulary. Hauck cringed when County Commissioner Jim Norman said the "W" word - three times, by Hauck's count. "Shame on him," Hauck said.
It was a sensitive issue because nobody wanted it to appear that Westchase taxpayers were angling for something special.
But in the years since the library effort began, it has been more than that.
"Upper Tampa Bay" is beginning to catch on as a concept, as a state of mind, as a region that crosses walls, gates and demographic divisions.
There is an Upper Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce. There is an Upper Tampa Bay Alliance.
A name that used to refer to a serene body of water and a few rustic homes on its shores now covers a sprawling land mass that reaches as far north as the Citrus Park mall.
"It's getting to a point where you can say, "I live in the Upper Tampa Bay region,' and people will know what you are talking about," said library fundraiser Doug Kellin, who lives in the Eagles. "You used to say you lived in Westchase even if you lived in the Eagles."
Kellin is pretty sure we'll be seeing businesses with the "Upper Tampa Bay" name as well.
Chalk it up to development.
The Veterans Expressway, the mall and the rapid-fire commercial construction along lower Gunn Highway have linked us economically.
High schools draw children together from a variety of cultures. "A lot of your social activities relate to your kids," said Hauck, whose daughter graduated from Alonso.
Newer communities - Waterchase, Highland Park and a bevy of apartment complexes - fill the green space that used to separate Westchase from Fawn Ridge and the elegant estates of Keystone.
Maybe it would be different if they were small towns, each with its own government, school board and, yes, library.
But when you live in a vast unincorporated area like Hillsborough County, there really are no walls. None of us can say for sure where Keystone begins and Odessa ends. We forever debate the beginning and end of Town 'N Country.
The library takes this homogenization a huge step forward.
"Once you roll up your sleeves and start working with people, if you are a people person, you learn to like them," Hauck said.
Much as the bank of computers provides real-time Internet access around the world, the library will serve as a focal point and gathering spot for all of Upper Tampa Bay.
Whatever that is.
Yes, I plan to check out books here. I'll run up overdue fines here, and I'm getting on a list for the children's reading group.
