• While the County Commissioners can choose to sell the property and close our wonderful library, the City Council Members have the ability to prevent the property from being rezoned to a taller building. Currently everything on the waterfront in this area has been held to eight stories. If the County is successful in getting the property rezoned, it could go as high as 20 stories.
• Do you want our skyline to look like Sarasota?
• Downtown is already congested. Imagine how a high-rise will impact the traffic and as well as the demand on services such as sewer, water, utilities, etc.
• Every library is unique in the way it meets the community’s needs. The Central Library is the Central location which supports all of Manatees library branches. It houses the Library System’s administrative offices, different departments that have system wide scope of services including but not limited to: programming services, reference, youth services which includes running the summer reading program every year and supports that program at all of the other library locations. It houses the circulation group and technical services. The Central library buys and receives all of the books, and keeps the catalog updated. Everything that happens at the Central Library supports the other branches as well as themselves.
• The Central Library provides more computers because there are more people in the community who need access to computers. This is a vital service for employment opportunities, research, education, etc.
• There are more open spaces for people who do not have a place like this to go. It gives them an opportunity to socialize and see other people that they would not normally have. This supports the mental health of our community.
• The Library System as it stands today has won many awards over the years. https:// www.mymanatee.org/departments/manatee_county_public_library_system/ about_manatee_libraries
• There is a perception that Urban areas do not need a library as much as suburban areas do. That doesn’t even make sense as the Downtown Central Library has the opportunity to serve more people just because of its location. It is easily accessible by many communities via our beautiful Riverwalk.
• The Central Library has the Eaton room with genealogy and local historical resources. No other library has this.
• It is in close proximity to other services downtown - The Manatee County Veterans Services office (located next door to the Little Discovery Center), The Little Discovery Center, and The Bishop Museum are within an easy walk from the Central Library.
• The Central Library partners with the school district and represents the library system at the Soar in Four event held at the Bishop Museum.
• The Little Discovery Center is an early learning center that is open from 9:00 - 1:00 every day. Families and children come in to explore and work on pre-literacy skills. This is part of the Library System and is within two tenths of a mile from the Central Library.
• The Central Library benefits from a large host of volunteers. Just for the month of April 2022, the library benefited from 323 hours of volunteer work. Most of the volunteers come from the local community.
• The Central Library has the largest maker space named Area 52. These spaces include a tinker lab or workshop, 3D printers, coding programs, fiber arts and crafts.
• The Central Library is preparing to open their new Sound Lab. This will house a sound booth, foam absorption which is needed for better acoustics, and some equipment. The goal it to provide and opportunity for individuals to record music, learn about sound equipment and even do podcasts.
• The Central Library has the large meeting rooms available to the public at minimal cost.