Locals View Plans for Bloomingdale Regional Library Expansion

Members of the Friends of the Bloomingdale Regional Library say plans to expand the 15,000-square-foot facility at 1906 Bloomingdale Ave., Valrico, are long overdue.

The Friends got a sneak preview of plans to expand the library by 10,000 square feet and renovate the existing facility during a meeting Sept. 26.

Construction will begin in June or July and be completed by August 2013, according to project manager Israel Grajales.

Architect Paul Portal of Portal Long & Associates is in charge of designing the $2.6 expansion and renovation, and was on hand at the meeting to go over details with the Friends, who had their own ideas of how the Friends' bookstore, Bookends, should be redesigned in the new facility.

Jean Peters, chief librarian for the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System, said she's especially excited to see new book-sorting technology incorporated in the Bloomingdale library that will permit readers to check out library books using an automated system.

"There will be a glass wall where the public will be able to enter the books in slots and then watch them as they are taken on a conveyor belt to a 12-bin automated sorter," said Peters. "This will be a huge savings in time for the staff and will be huge in terms of accuracy. We're really excited on the staff side. It's pretty cool technology."

The new sorting system will be installed where the current computer lab is.

"Bloomingdale is one of the few libraries in the system that still has a computer lab with PCs," said Peters. "Other libraries have laptops on moveable carts that give a lot more flexibility." The renovated library will be equipped with laptops, she said.

The expansion will be built on the back of the existing library and will include a children's library that is twice as large with a family restroom. The expansion also will feature a 2,000-square-foot multipurpose room with a separate entry that can be subdivided with partitions. The room will be able to accommodate 185 people. The current community room can only accommodate 60 people.

"This room will be ideal for voting and other uses where you don't necessarily want the public trooping through the main library," said Peters.

The expansion also will allow for two other meeting rooms, one to accommodate about 20 people and another that would accommodate 50 people, said Portal. In all, there will be eight meeting rooms. The genealogy room will remain where it currently is.

"We're going to have plenty of space in terms of meeting rooms," said Peters. 

Friends President Carol Jones was particularly concerned about the Friends' bookstore, which will be relocated to the area where the current children's library is located. The teen room will be relocated next to the bookstore.

The Friends were happy to hear that the new bookstore will be five feet longer than the 294-square-foot existing store, but felt the storage room was too small.

Portal assured them he could juggle the space to make the storage room larger.

At the request of the Friends, Portal also agreed to change the location of the entrance into the bookstore and add more wall space for shelving.

He warned, though, that the bookstore will have to be closed for a couple of months while construction takes place.

"We'll just have to get creative," said Jones, noting that the bookstore earns about $2,000 a month, which helps fund library programs. "Maybe we can find some other space in the library to operate out of during construction."

The existing bookstore will become a 14- by 8-foot vending cafe with tables.

"I think you'll find a lot of teens hanging out in this area," said Bloomingdale librarian Eloise Hurst, "but you may find adults using it too because it will be equipped with WiFi."

In addition to the vending area, the main library will feature a 50-seat reading room equipped with lounge seating for comfort.

Portal said the expansion will be constructed first followed by the renovations to the existing library.

He hopes to have the final design completed by the end of the year and a construction manager on board by January.