A new public library is coming to Lakewood Ranch. Here is how you can help make it work
Although a ground breaking date for Manatee County’s seventh library has not been set, Friends of the East Manatee Library at Lakewood Ranch are already hard at work raising money to supplement library programs.
Renderings by Fawley Bryant Architecture for the planned 50,000-square-foot, two-story library to be located off Rangeland Parkway north of Premier Sports Campus, were released last year.
Envisioned for the library are a rooftop terrace, dedicated youth, teen, and adult areas, a cafe, outdoor space, and a multi-purpose meeting area.
While the county will build, outfit and staff the library, the friends group will help elevate offerings.
“We raise money for programs and services. It’s good for people to know that a lot of programs at libraries are funded by friends groups,” Sue Ann Miller, president of the Friends of the East Manatee Library at LWR, said recently.
The friends group started as a grassroots movement with interested residents in February 2017 after a Manatee County Neighborhood Services meeting introduced the plan to bring a library to Lakewood Ranch.
A year later, the group had its first first public meeting seeking volunteers for committees and the board. The first official board of directors meeting was held in May 2018. A year later, the friends group officially received its nonprofit status.
“We started fund raising after we got our nonprofit status, and then COVID hit,” Miller said.
Now that COVID vaccines have arrived, the friends group is once again stepping up its fund raising efforts and recruiting volunteers.
“We are excited. The library is under design. Design is 30 percent done. The ground breaking date is unknown but it will be a great day,” Miller said.
The East County Library, the first library built in decades by the county, is approaching the 60 percent stage of project development.
The group is always looking for volunteers — anyone willing to step up to help with marketing or fundraising, Regina Negrycz, vice president and secretary of the friends group, said.
The mission of the Friends of the East Manatee Library at Lakewood Ranch is to support a new library and sustain its work for the continued enrichment of the people of Manatee County. This is accomplished by educating the community, advocating for the need of an East Manatee County Library, and providing funding for the library through public and private sources, according to the friends’ web page at https://libraryfriendsemlwr.org/.
The umbrella of the friends group extends to Myakka City, which is located more than 20 miles away from any library branch.
The friend’s goal is to raise $60,000 by the time the library opens.
The next fundraising event planned by the friends is an online, virtual fundraiser with New York Times best selling author Heather Graham. Graham will will share excerpts from her new book, “Danger in Numbers.”
The fundraiser is set for 1 p.m. April 11. To register, visit https://libraryfriendsemlwr.org/event-4199209.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
