Bloomingdale Regional Public Library

The Bloomingdale Regional Library was originally designed to lessen patron usage at the Brandon Regional Library, which was the busiest library in the Hillsborough County System, at the beginning of the 21st century. In the early stages of development, the Bloomingdale Library was often referred to as the South Brandon Library because it was expected to serve people in the FishHawk, Bloomingdale, Valrico, and Lithia areas. Though there were several discussed sites for the creation of the library, the Hillsborough County Commissioners narrowed down their selection to two locations. One of the locations was across the street from Lithia Springs Elementary School on Lithia Pinecrest Road, while the other locality was next to Bloomingdale High School on Bloomingdale Avenue. Though there were concerns regarding possible traffic congestion on Bloomingdale Avenue, the Commissioners ultimately decided to accept the latter option. This site was attractive for cost-saving reasons, as a member of the McLean family, offered to discount the acreage with an additional free acre.
Proposed blue prints for the library allowed for 15,000 square-feet with the possibility of adding an additional 10,000 at a later date. The space included a 3,770 square-foot reading room, a 1,150 square-foot children's room, and a 940 square-foot community collaboration room. Additional space was dedicated to meeting rooms and reading areas. With a holding of 53,000 books upon its day of opening, as well as the purchasing of thirty-five internet-accessible computers and the inclusion of free WI-fi, the Bloomingdale Library totaled in cost of $4.5 million. The library had a soft opening on February 7, 2005 and it officially started service on February 10.

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