Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 5-31-19

Feature
Over 300 People Attend The C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Library Dedication
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
It started with a conversa- tion.
And on Sunday, the newest jewel in the College Hill neighborhood was un- veiled: a state-of-the-art C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Li- brary.
After a year of construc- tion, more than two hundred people gathered in the en- trance hall of the two-story 25,000 square foot building to celebrate its dedication, in- cluding Sen. Darryl Rou- son, Hillsborough County Commissioners Les Miller, Ken Hagen, Pat Kemp, and Marcella Smith, The Honorable Charles R. Wilson, Bishop Thomas Scott, City Councilmen, Or- lando Gudes and Joe Citro; and Mayor Jane Castor.
Tampa’s poet laureate James Tokley recited an original piece to commemo- rate the occasion.
The library’s predecessor – built in 1994 and renamed in 2010 after the longtime pub- lisher of the Florida Sentinel- Bulletin – had become outdated.
S. Kay Andrews, daugh- ter of C. Blythe Andrews, Jr., and the paper’s current publisher, said it was her mother, Gloria, who brought it to her attention that the building was no longer ade- quately serving the commu- nity’s needs.
Taking heed of her mother’s concerns, Andrews said she convened a confer- ence with Hillsborough County Commissioners Ken Hagan and Les Miller to discuss renovations. But soon, a huge shift took place, she said.
“Today, the Andrews family is humbled and in awe of this,” she said. “That con- versation went from renova- tions to this new library... thanks to the good conversa- tions by Hagan and our own Les Miller.”
The gift of gab is a trait that Andrews said she learned from her Dad. An ef- fective community leader and astute businessman, C. Blythe Andrews, Jr., knew that good conversations could spark change for good.
His knack for initiating change through conversations put him in rooms with power- ful people and resulted in his-
Some of the more than 300 people who attended the dedication of the C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Library.
The Colors were presented by Boy Scout Troop 64 of First Bap- tist Church of College Hill.
Some others are: Senator Darryl Rouson, Harold Adams, David Snow and Mary James.
Others who attended the dedication of the C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Library.
toric events, like the appoint- ments of Black people to serve in the administrations of sev- eral Tampa mayors. When famed quarterback Doug Williams wanted out of his contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, C. Blythe An- drews, Jr., helped facilitate negotiations.
Those talks paved the way for Williams to be the first Black quarterback to play in the NFL’s championship game when his new team, the Wash- ington Redskins, played the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII, Andrews said.
“In the spirit of my father, let’s continue to have conver- sations that move our com- munity forward,” she said.
Like its predecessor, the new library faces Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard with its main entrance and parking in the rear. But that’s where the similarities end. The building features an array of amenities, including large
meeting spaces, a laptop kiosk, a recording studio, and an archive of the Florida Sen- tinel-Bulletin.
The paper’s roots go back to 1919, when William An- drews began the Florida Sen- tinel in Jacksonville. By 1945, the paper was moved to Tampa and operated under his son, C. Blythe Andrews. In 1959, it merged with the Tampa Bulletin.
Dozens of members of the Andrews family attended the dedication, including Mr. Andrews's widow Gloria and their five children, Gayle, Kay, Susan, C. Blythe, III, and Nancy, along with grandchildren and great- grandchildren, extended fam- ily, and Sentinel and Tampa Park staffers and supporters.
All were donned in purple, the color that signifies the Lily Security Benefit Association, the Masonic organization of which C. Blythe Andrews, and Andrews, Jr. were
Grand President.
The new building is a tes-
tament to the tenacity of com- munity activists who pressured county and library officials to make the replace- ment building a priority, said Andrew Breidenbaugh, director of the Tampa-Hills- borough Public Library.
“They organized, they went to the county commis- sion and made this happen,” he said. “This is the future
they enabled.”
It’s a future that began
some 74 years ago, when the first Sentinel rolled off the presses and with the estab- lishment of a new library, will continue for another seven decades and more, said S. Kay Andrews.
“This paradise will feed souls for generations to come,” she said. “I believe the library is a gift that keeps on giving.”
FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A