The proposed county budget would match four elementary schools with new public libraries or improved school facilities.
By DEMORRIS LEE
Published September 9, 2005
It seems like the perfect partnership: an elementary school and a library.
And if Hillsborough County commissioners pass the 2006-07 county budget as it's currently written, the county could see four of those marriages - near the University of South Florida, in Sulphur Springs, on Nebraska Avenue near downtown Tampa, and near Brandon.
The upcoming budget, which will be presented to commissioners on Sept. 22, includes proposals for four school/library partnerships. Elementary schools would team up with either new public libraries that will be built, or existing school libraries that would be expanded.
The libraries would be open to the public during certain hours, which are yet to be determined, and would also offer expanded facilities for the schools they're connected to. The plans are modeled after a library at Egypt Lake Elementary School in north Tampa that serves both students and the public.
"Building libraries is a very positive thing for the community, and connecting them with schools in a partnership makes sense," said county Commissioner Tom Scott.
One of the libraries would be at Muller Elementary School in the University area. A 10,000-square-foot library would be built on N 22nd Street, adjacent to the school. The $4.2-million project, which would be completed in 2010, would require seven new employees and would be a partnership with the Hillsborough County School Board.
"This is to their (the school system's) and our advantage," said Joe Stines, Hillsborough County's libraries director. "We build a bond between teachers, the PTA and the public library. It's a win-win situation. Parents would be able to bring their kids back on the weekends, in the evenings, and it keeps kids reading."
Stines said all the details have not been worked out in terms of design and hours of operation for the libraries.
In Sulphur Springs, which has no library, the school district would build a 3,300-square-foot expansion to the Sulphur Springs Elementary School's media center. The $1.1-million project would also purchase books, computers and equipment to furnish the library.
Near downtown Tampa, there are plans to demolish the current Robert W. Saunders Library at 1505 N Nebraska Ave. and build a 25,000-square-foot one in its place by 2010. The $7.8-million library would also be used by students at nearby Booker T. Washington Elementary School, Stines said.
Near Brandon, a library would be built in a vacant school.
A $3.9-million project would acquire and renovate the historic Turkey Creek School for a library in eastern Hillsborough. Built around 1927, the two-story, red brick school sits empty today next door to Turkey Creek Middle School.
