Community Asked To Name Lakewood Ranch Library: County

LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL — The Manatee County Public Library System is seeking community input in naming the new library branch under construction at 16410 Rangeland Parkway in Lakewood Ranch on the Premier campus.

The public can share their thoughts about the name of the $20 million library and community center, which broke ground in December, through an online survey, according to a county news release.

The brief, three-question online survey asks participants to rate three names in order of preference:

• Lakewood Ranch Library
• Manatee County Library at Lakewood Ranch
• Manatee County Library East County Branch

The second question is an option to enter a suggested name.

“This is a community library,” said Tammy Parrott, library services manager said, noting that feedback and suggestions from community members is vital for a facility that will become a focal point for them. “It is important to have our community involved in the naming of the new branch.”

The survey can be accessed online here until end of March 8.

The project, which is being designed by Fawley Bryant Architecture and built by Willis Smith Construction, is expected to be completed by 2024. It will be the seventh full-service branch of the Manatee County Public Library System.

The county’s six other library branches are named for their location: Downtown (which was originally “Central” because that’s where the administrative offices are housed), Braden River, Rocky Bluff, Island, South Manatee and Palmetto.

With the exception of the Rocky Bluff Branch Library in Ellenton, all location names help indicate approximately what city or region of the county each is located, the county said.

Rocky Bluff was named after a three-foot ledge consisting of fuller’s earth and limestone that hung above the Manatee River about a mile from the library. Geologist Angelo Heilprin reported his findings during an expedition of Florida’s West Coast in 1886.