Brandon Library History Explored!

On Saturday, September 15th from 10 am to 3 pm, the Library History Roadshow team had the pleasure of collecting library memorabilia and memories at the Brandon Regional Library.  It was a lovely day out and the event was visited by library patrons of all ages who shared their library memories.  Check out the slide show of the event:



Library experiences touch every patron in different ways throughout their lives as interests and needs develop and change.  For these youth, getting their first library card opened up a new avenues and led them to explore new topics and tales.



Their impressions of visiting the library have already made a positive impact...



...with lasting memories that are priceless! Listen to this girl talk about her experience:



Dwayne tells us what it was like taking the his daughters to get their first library card and how coming to the Brandon library has become a regular family event.



Yvonne also enjoys the regular family excursions to the Brandon Regional Library and she talks about what keeps her coming back again and again.

We were so pleased that retired librarian, Jane Schwamberger visited the roadshow and brought some photos and ephemera from her scrapbook. Jane was the children's librarian in the late 1970s, while the Brandon Library was located on Robertson Drive. We scanned and returned her memorabilia and also offered to record her memories. Here is an image of a childrens' watercolor painting workshop in 1978 (right).

There were some photos contributed from another librarian, who worked at the Brandon Library from the late 1980s/early 1990s.  This Halloween-time staff photo is such an endearing image, demonstrating the enthusiasm and fun that staff have had working at this regional library branch (below).

Although not every who attended the roadshow wanted their memories recorded, we were well received by Brandon patrons, who expressed to us the immensely important role that this public library has held for the community since services became available in 1960s. There was also a Burgert Brother photograph display in the main lobby with selected images of the Brandon region, as well as images from the branch archive collection.

Brandon's growth has been exponential since the library began as a reading room within the Brandon Women's Club, located on Moon Avenue in 1960. Library services have since rapidly grown along with population growth and industrial expansion, quickly becoming one of the largest and busiest branch library within the Hillsborough County Public Library system. 

The next roadshow will be December 1st at the Town 'N County from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.  See you there!

Brandon Library History Roadshow: September 15th

The next Library History Roadshow will be...

The Brandon Regional Library

619 Vonderburg Drive,

Brandon, FL  33511

Saturday, September 15th

10:00 a.m - 3:00 p.m.

Library service in the community began in 1960 when the Brandon Women's Club opened a corner of its club building (above), at 129 North Moon Street, to house the 1,000 "Brandon Area Library" books.

In 1968, the Brandon Branch Library, operated by the Tampa Public Library System, opened at 135 West Robertson Street (right). An expansion to that facility was completed in 1975 but the need for a larger building became apparent as the community continued to grow.

The library opened at its current 25,000 sq. ft. location, on Vonderburg Dr (below), on March 10, 1991 with a new name -- Brandon Regional Library -- one of the original two regional libraries in the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System. 

Do you have a memory, photographs or memorabilia from the Brandon library to share?  If so, please come bring them to the Brandon Regional Library history Roadshow so that they can go down in history!