John F. Germany Public Library

The John F. Germany Public Library is the flagship library of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System (THPL), as well as a member of the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative (HCPLC), and a member of the Tampa Bay Library Consortium (TBLC).

Located on Ashley Drive in Tampa, Florida, the 150,000-square-foot library acts as the central reference and resource center for the THPL, as well as serving the Downtown Tampa community as the local library branch. The John F. Germany Library is the largest library in the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System, and houses several specialty collections.^[1]

History

The original building of the Tampa Public Library, as it looked in 1917. There has been little modifications done to the actual outside structure.

In 1912, the City of Tampa received a grant from the Carnegie Foundation in order to start development on a building for a main Tampa library on Seventh Avenue. Architect Fred James designed the building, and the physical work was completed on the facility on June 30, 1915. However, opening of the facility was delayed for two years due to funding constraints. On April 17, 1917, the Tampa Public Library opened to the public with a collection of 3,800 books.^[2]

The Carnegie building on Seventh Avenue served as the main library’s building until the need for a larger building became a necessity with the increase of population in Tampa to 400,000 people. The Tampa City Council, along with community aid, began plans for a new building.^[2] The new building was located on Ashley Drive, .7 miles away from the original Carnegie building on Seventh Avenue. The construction of the Ashley Drive site began in 1965.

The new Tampa Public Library opened to the public on April 21, 1968. Designed by architectural firms McLane, Ranon, McIntosh & Bernardo, and McElvy & Jennewein, the new facility was 100,000 square feet, and held over 500,000 books.^[2] Nine years later a 50,000 square feet addition to the original building was built. Designed by architectural firm McElvy, Jennewein, Stefany & Howard, the new addition was connected to the original building by an elevated glass walkway. This addition was dedicated on May 23, 1976.^[2]

The Tampa Public Library was renamed on November 1, 1999 to the John F. Germany Public Library in honor of library supporter, civic leader, and former judge, John F. Germany.^[2] The facility completed in 1976 is the current library building, and still stands on Ashley Street.^[1] In February of 2015, former John F. Germany Public Library Chief Director Andrew S. Breidenbaugh was named director of the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library.^[3]

Special Collections

• Florida History & Genealogy Library
  • The Burgret Brothers Photographic Collection
  • Genealogy Collection
• Foundation Center Collection
• Government Documents Collection
• Local History Collection
• Small Business Center

The HIVE

Opened to the public in early 2015, The HIVE is a is a 10,000 sq. ft. public community innovation center and Makerspace located on the 3rd floor of the West Building of the John F. Germany Public Library. The HIVE features bookable spaces and equipment and offers innovative, creative programs and open learning labs for the public. Activities and services offered in The HIVE emphasize creativity, collaboration, and coworking.^[4] Spaces in The HIVE include the Makerspace, the Robotics Center, the Arts Center, the Media:Space Pit, the Recording Studio, and a Flexspace.

The sections and purposes of each area include:

• The Makerspace- A community work space for building, tinkering, fabricating, and creating. Equipment includes 2 Makerbot Replicator 3D printers, Arduino Uno Boards & Accessories, Raspberry Pi kits, Little Bits Deluxe kits, Shapeoko 2 CNC milling machine, and work stations featuring hand tools, soldering irons, and glue guns.^[5]
• The Robotics Center- A work space and scrimmage zone for school teams participating in FIRST, VEX, BEST, or any variety of robotics program.^[6]
• The Arts Center- A space to work on all things arts-and-crafts including painting, drawing, sculpting, scrapbooking, screenprinting, sewing, knitting, quilting and embroidery. Equipment includes Singer Tradition 2277 sewing machines, Singer 14CG754 ProFinish 2-3-4 thread sergers, Brother embroidery machine, Accuquilt Go! fabric cutter, Silhouette Cameo paper and vinyl cutter, and other sewing tools.^[7]
• The Media:Scape Pit- A collaborative work space featuring comfy seating for 8 to and a 42" display monitor with VGA, HDMI and mini connectors.^[8]
• The Recording Studio- A space and tools for recording and editing audio/video projects. Equipment includes a 27” iMac, a Chromakey green screen wall, a Cannon Vixa HF R400 camera with tripod, Behringer XENYX X1204USB Mixer, wireless microphones, headphones, and more.^[9]
• The Flexspace- A multi-use space with seating for fifty, dual projectors (VGA/HDMI), tables and whiteboards.^[10]

Guests must have a valid Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System card to schedule use of bookable spaces and equipment. However, anyone is welcome to attend programs and events scheduled in The HIVE, although seating limits may apply.^[11]

Hours of Operation and Contact Information

Library:

• Monday – Thursday 10:00AM to 9:00PM
• Friday – Saturday 10:00AM to 6:00PM
• Sunday 12:30PM to 5:00PM

The Florida History & Genealogy Library:

• Monday - Saturday 10:00AM to 6:00PM
• Sunday 12:30PM to 5:00PM

Phone Number: 813-273-3652

Address: 900 North Ashley Drive, Tampa, FL 33602^[12]

External links

• Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
• Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative
• Tampa Bay Library Consortium
• Florida History and Genealogy Library Blog

References