Monday, December 10, 2001

Nova Southeastern U. and Broward County Share a New Library By SCOTT CARLSON Over the weekend, Nova Southeastern University celebrated the opening of a five-story, 325,000-square-foot library with an unusual genesis: Half of the building's $45-million construction cost was covered by Broward County, Fla., the county in which the university is located. The building will operate both as an academic facility and as a public library. "To our knowledge, it is the only such facility where there's been a collaboration between an independent, not-for-profit university and a public body," said Ray Ferrero Jr., president of the university. In 1999, San Jose State University agreed with the City of San Jose to build a $177-million library serving both the campus and the city. That project, now under way, will be finished in 2003. Under the agreement in Florida, Nova Southeastern retains ownership of the building and oversees the employment of the staff. For the first four years of the library's operation, the county will contribute 40 percent of the operating costs. In the fourth year, the library will electronically tally the number and types of users entering the building -- general public versus students -- and apportion the operating costs accordingly. But the county will never pay more than 50 percent or less than 40 percent of the operating costs. Mr. Ferrero says the county took the money for the library out of a general fund and did not raise special taxes for building. "Clearly, some of my colleagues in the state are pretty excited about it because they are in the midst of trying to do a library project, and if you can get help from another source, it would be a major plus," he added. "And as far as we're concerned, it's a major plus for the community and a boost for the economic engine here, too." The public will get access to all of the materials in the library, which will be open 20 more hours each week than many other public libraries in the county. The university will also reserve half of an adjoining 1,500-space parking facility for the public. The library will eventually hold 1.4 million volumes -- including children's and young-adult sections -- along with a host of electronic databases. The library will also feature wireless access, a café, a 500-seat performing-arts theater, computer labs, multimedia rooms and study rooms, and museumlike galleries. Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, an Atlanta-based architecture firm, designed the building. Background articles from The Chronicle: In San Jose, City and University Move Ahead With Plans for Joint Library (1/22/1999) Should a College and a City Share a Single Library? (10/30/1998) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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