Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 5-28-19

Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System Wins Statewide 2019 Library Of The Year Honors
A lot of Hillsborough County residents know their public libraries are pretty special. The Florida Library Associa- tion agrees.
The professional or- ganization that repre- sents academic, public, and school libraries across the state has named the Tampa-Hills- borough County Public Library System as its 2019 Library of the Year.
Andrew Brien- baugh, Director of Tampa-Hillsborough County Library Services, accepted the award.
All 27 branches cele- brated the award on Sat-
urday, May 25, 2019. The Library of the Year award recognizes creative and innovative programming, efforts made to expand and en- hance services, and lead- ership in implementing programs that can be em-
ulated by other libraries. Among the many no- tables which gave the nod to Tampa-Hillsborough
County libraries: Eliminating overdue
fines, which welcomed back approximately 15,000 customers whose accounts had been locked, and increased use of materials and services
Internal improve- ments that saved money
ANDREW BRIENBAUGH ...Director of Library Services, accepted the “2019 Library of the Year” award
and made better use of staff time, allowing the addition of more classes
Services that include U. S. passport application acceptance, online high
school completion schol- arships, recording stu- dios, and “Discovery Pass,” offering free ad- mission to local attrac- tions
Hillsborough All Ac- cess Libraries (HAAL) Pass, which allows all public, charter, virtual, and homeschool students in the county to use their student ID number as a public library card
A vast array of free programming and events, including story times for autistic children, pro- grams in Spanish, con- certs, LibCon and AfroCon, support for local authors and artists, business skills classes,
technology workshops, crafting lessons, and more.
The opening of the Arthenia L. Joyner Uni- versity Area Community Library, which doubles as the Media Center for the adjacent Muller Elemen- tary Magnet School.
The library system’s easy-to-use website also received the Florida Li- brary Association’s 2019 Library Web Presence award.
To learn more about the many free resources and programs available at Tampa-Hillsborough County public libraries, call (813) 273-3762, or go to hcplc.org.
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