Pasco County Libraries is remaking its seven branches and wants the public to help guide the way.
There will be a series of Community Listening Sessions as the design phase of library remodeling gets underway, according to a news release from the county.
Anyone with ideas about the planned use of various spaces within the renovated library branches is invited to attend a session to share their thoughts.
The three-year remodeling project is funded by voter approval in November of $18.6 million in general obligation bonds for library upgrades. The county’s libraries were built before the 1980s.
The first listening sessions are being held for the New River branch in Wesley Chapel and the Centennial Park branch in Holiday.
The first session will be at New River Branch Library, 34043 State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel, on April 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The second one will be at Centennial Park Branch Library, 5740 Moog Road in Holiday, on April 30 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
An estimated $2 million in renovations will be done at the New River Branch Library. The project is in design phase and is expected to be completed in 2020.
Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles has said that the county plans to close the libraries during the renovation, with outreach efforts planned to serve patrons.
Closing the libraries during the work will allow contractor to complete the work more quickly and at a lower cost than doing phases at each facility, Biles said.
In addition to the New River Branch Library, improvements also are planned at the Hugh Embry Branch Library and the Land O’ Lakes Branch Library.
Nearly $1.8 million in improvements is planned at the Hugh Embry Branch Library, 14215 Fourth St., in Dade City. That project is expected to be completed in 2021.
And, nearly $1.7 million in improvements is planned at the Land O’ Lakes Branch Library, 2818 Collier Parkway in Land O’ Lakes. That project is expected to be completed in 2021.
Published April 24, 2019
