The Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach (formerly the West Palm Beach Public Library) is the public library of the City of West Palm Beach, Florida.
The Library will issue a free library card to anyone who lives, works, learns or plays in West Palm Beach, with presentation of photo identification. In April 2009, the library relocated into a new facility in City Center in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach, which is 2.5 times larger than the previous building. In the 2014 fiscal year (October 1, 2013 - September 30, 2014) the Library circulated 828,212 items to 103,553 registered card holders. During that same year, the library welcomed 553,244 visitors.
Mission & Vision
MISSION
Creating inspired lives by connecting people with information and ideas.
VISION
Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach reaches out to inspire, inform and create a delightful quality of life.
By...
- Encouraging a love of books and reading
- Providing an expanded and enhanced collection of books, music, movies and digital resources
- Serving as a community gathering and meeting space
- Supporting businesses, families, job seekers, veterans and economic development
- Providing cost-effective services and resources
- Nourishing and inspiring the City's diverse population
- Providing information and self-development opportunities
- Connecting people with the newest technologies
- Providing exceptional customer service.
History
The Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach is the oldest public library in Palm Beach County, Florida. It began as the Free Reading Room for the City of West Palm Beach, located in the Union Congregational Church at the corner of Datura and Olive Streets. In 1895, Commodore Charles John Clarke, a Palm Beach yachtsman, donated a two-story former Palm Beach Yacht Club building to West Palm Beach. The collection from the Free Reading Room and a $100 donation from Henry Flagler created the first city library.
On January 26, 1924, the City's first permanent library, an artistic Spanish style building, opened alongside the Women's Club and a band shell in Flagler Park, facing the Intracoastal Waterway. In spite of severe damage from the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane which left more than half of the books destroyed and two feet of lake water and mud on the floor, the Memorial Library remained open, serving the residents of West Palm Beach until spring 1962.
On April 30, 1962, a new city library designed by architect Norman Robson, was dedicated and opened with much flourish and public comment over its modern, colorful, exterior frieze panels. The name of the library at 100 Clematis Street was changed to the West Palm Beach Public Library. It was planned to allow for expansion for at least twenty years.
On February 21, 2012, the Mandel Foundation awarded a $5 million grant to the West Palm Beach Library Foundation for the enhancement of library programs and services. At this time, the West Palm Beach Public Library was renamed the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach.
Facilities
On April 13, 2009, the Library opened in its present facility at 411 Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach.
The first floor contains 50 categories of new books, books on CD, Playaways, periodicals, a Book Sale, New and Popular DVDs, and a Dunkin' Donuts café.
The second floor, which includes both the Technology and TeenSource areas, has 34 PCs in the common area, a teen section with another 4 PCs and a collection of graphic novels and video games. It also has music CDs and DVDs, and a computer training lab that seats 24. There are also "future" spaces for 6 digital audio/video studios and a smaller 12-seat computer training lab intended for digital photography or smaller computer classes. Wi-Fi is available to the public, free of charge, throughout the library and City Center.
KidSpace, which includes interactive spaces, 24 internet computers plus 7 early literacy computers, a Homework Center, a parenting collection with comfortable adult seating close to the toddler area, and many books, DVDs and CDs, is on the third floor.
The meeting room suite, also on the third floor, has a 150-seat auditorium with theatrical lighting and a projection and sound system that can accommodate movies, theatrical productions and live music events. It also contains a 50-seat meeting room, a large conference room that holds 16 and a small conference room that holds 8. The two larger meeting rooms are equipped for audio-visual demonstrations. These rooms are available to the public for meetings or other types of gatherings when not in use for library programs.
The fourth floor is the Grand Reading Room. It is 270 feet (82 m) long with a 35-foot (11 m) high barrel-shaped ceiling that gives it a sense of grandeur. Decorated in an elegant yet relaxed Florida style, it contains the library's adult book collection, reading tables equipped with power outlets, 50 public PCs, the historical Florida Room, and two group study rooms.
Digital Collections
The Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach offers access to ebooks through 2 vendors: The 3M Cloud Library and OverDrive.
They each provide ebooks to read on smartphones, tablets, ereaders, and computers. 3M Cloud Library also provides digital audiobooks. Freegal is a service which provides access to the catalog of artists in Sony Music Entertainment. Library cardholders can download five songs a week when they log in with their bar code and PIN.
Finally, Rocket Languages is web-based language tool in which library patrons can choose from 14 languages including English as a Second Language and Sign Language.
Events and Activities
The Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach provides programs, classes, lectures, interactive experiences, training, and workshop opportunities. Some of the library's guest authors have included: Barbara Taylor Bradford, Daniel Silva, Jackie Collins, Senator George McGovern, James Patterson, and Nicholas Sparks. Each month, the library hosts three book clubs for adults, two for children (and a quarterly family book club), a variety of computer training classes, bilingual events and outreach to the Hispanic community, crafts activities, ballroom dancing, t'ai chi, Pilates, yoga, meditation, expert talks on health, aging, and finances, and various other popular programs. In January 2015, the library began offering a life-long learning program series called IncreMental-U, including talks by Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerebino. The library also enjoys numerous community partnerships which enhance the library's wide variety of activities. Among the numerous and varied children's and teen events are the "Dog Tales" with specially trained therapy dogs that will "listen" to a child reading and gaming and animation workshops. The "Let's Read" program provides specially trained volunteers to read stories to pre-kindergarten through grade 2 children in three local schools.
The Teens' and Children's Homework Centers are each staffed daily by two certified teachers. The Centers feature the latest technology such as MacBook Pros, iPads, and other resources that teenagers and kids would need to complete their homework assignments.
The library promotes programs through a variety of social media including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and the Library Currents e-newsletter.
ArrayFriends of the Library
The Friends of the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach was founded in 1995 and was reconstituted in 2008 to support the new facility. The Friends organization is a group of community library supporters aiding and initiating library projects and programs. Members receive The Friends' newsletter "Among Friends", early notice of registration for certain events, and opportunities to share their talents. Among the many library programs sponsored by the Friends organization, examples include the Friday Night Jazz concerts, which have attracted as many as 350 attendees per performance, and the 92Y Live programs. Live from NY's 92nd Street Y (92YLive) is a live-streamed event that allows people all over the USA to access the Y's cultural and educational programs. The programs provide an opportunity for the audience to ask questions of the presenters, as if they were in the New York audience.
ArrayLibrary Foundation
The West Palm Beach Library Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization and independent from the City of West Palm Beach, was formed in the year 2000 with the original mission of working collaboratively with the City of West Palm Beach in a private-public partnership to build a new library. The Foundation, free of any political process or influence, secures financial and in-kind donations to enhance programs, services, collections and technology that the city's operating budget cannot encompass.
In 2009, the Foundation began to revitalize its efforts of raising funds to support and enhance the new Library's programs, services, technology and collections.
Through a strong partnership with the Mandel Public Library, the West Palm Beach Library Foundation determines where support will have the greatest impact. While public or taxpayer dollars provide for the Library's basic operating budget, they are not sufficient to provide full access to the information, programs and services which members of the community need and value. The Foundation's support is necessary to help the Library improve its technology, collections, services and programs.
ArraySee also
- Palm Beach County Library System
References
- ^ a b Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach: "Updated Library Statistics Summary 2013-2014" (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in public folders)
- ^ "Know Your County: West Palm Beach Public Library" 1962 clipping in West Palm Beach Public Library scrapbook #9, p. 184
- ^ http://mandel.mli.org.il/mandelfoundation
- ^ http://www.wpblf.org/
- ^ Nelander, John (March 18, 2014). "Mandel foundation gives $10M to Holocaust museum". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
In 2012, the Mandel Foundation gave $5 million to the public library in West Palm Beach. Last fall, the Mandels donated $5 million toward the construction of the Mandel Jewish Community Center on Hood Road in Palm Beach Gardens.
- ^ "Computers". Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach. City of West Palm Beach/Mandel Public Library. 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- ^ "Music, E-Books, and Languages". Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach. City of West Palm Beach/Mandel Public Library. 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
- ^ http://www.friendswpblibrary.org
- ^ http://www.92y.org/live
- ^ http://www.wpblf.org/
External links
- Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach
- Mandel Public Library Digital Collections
- Mandel Public Library Catalog
- Friends of the Library
- West Palm Beach Library Foundation
Interesting Informations
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