The West Tampa Branch Library: A Public Library - February 11, 2011

The West Tampa Branch Library, 2312 West Union Street, Tampa, Florida  33607

http://www.hcplc.org/hcplc/locations/wtp/

The West Tampa Branch Library is located at 2312 W. Union Street in Tampa, which is an historic district. The 9,000 square foot building, itself, is a registered site that was one of only ten libraries that Mr. Andrew Carnegie helped to build in Florida. The land it sits on was donated by a well-known West Tampa cigar factory owner. So the building is very unique in its architecture, structure, and history. The library was more recently relocated to a new addition of the building, which included a refurbishment completed in 2004. There is also a separate room off of the foyer inside near the library entrance that is used as after-school tutoring. It is downstairs and is referred to as the literacy room. The old original upstairs that used to house the books is now used as a large meeting area and for community activities, such as voting.

Mrs. Norma Guzman is one of only two women who hold an MLIS at the West Tampa branch. It was interesting to note that when asked for her business card, she obtained a generic one that had to be filled out, which she said was because of cuts in funding. No one has their own business cards printed by the county library services anymore. Mrs. Guzman obtained her Bachelor's in Technical and Professional Writing, and then her MLIS from the University of South Florida (USF). She spent 19 years in administration in various departments at USF prior to library work. When a professor at USF said there was a need for a Spanish-speaking librarian with the Germany Library downtown, she took it and worked the Cybermobile for four years to promote books to the Spanish-speaking population. She then transferred to the West Tampa branch and has been working there for the past two and a half years. She chose to become a librarian because of her love of books. She originally was interested in working in an academic library, but it required a specialization, two Master's degrees and five years experience. So she decided to work in the public library system. Mrs. Guzman does not belong to any professional library associations. She used to belong to the American Library Association (ALA), but noted that cost made it difficult to continue memberships. She now teaches computer classes in Spanish to her Spanish-speaking patrons as part of her community service. Her continuing education is provided as necessary by the county. Right now she is participating in one called Supervisor ReExcellence.

The West Tampa branch continues to serve a primarily Hispanic and African-American population. Special information needs include translating, choosing appropriate materials in Spanish, and computer training and access. The library hours are Monday thru Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m, closed on Sunday. The librarians and staff take turns working on Saturdays due to staff cuts. They report back to Karen Slaton, principal librarian housed at the C.B. Andrews or College Hill branch. Mrs. Guzman did not have any numbers available to say how many patrons are served, but when looking at one monthly report, it appears to be hundreds per month. Besides Mrs. Guzman, there is a branch manager (the other librarian who has her MLIS), a senior library assistant, a library assistant, and a part-time library assistant. The library does not have any type or level of visibility in social media other than a page on the HCPLC website. Mrs. Guzman was not sure of the size of the collection, but the web page states there are 30,787 volumes. The checkout system is Horizons, which is the same as the Hillsborough County Schools. A computer lab is available in a separate glassed-in room. It contains 15 computers with internet access. Three other computers are used for learning and research. Another stand-alone computer is a 15 minute express computer and two others are for children's use. There are also copiers and fax available, as well as vending machines.

While the library is tiny where the books are housed, it is comfortably laid out. There is a separate children's area denoted by separate shelving, books and small tables. An area with two retangular and four circular tables and study centers is available for adult use and offers free wi-fi. Muted or non-glare fluorescent lights are above everything, but are not as noticeable as the light from the beautiful stained-glass windows. The pictures show scenes of people going to the library. Mrs. Guzman says it is a pleasant place to work. She doesn't wish to leave. She says they are always busy and she is involved in everything except processing, which is now done by vendors. The only downside of being a librarian, she states, is the funding and the cuts that have been made because of it.

I enjoyed this small library. I have only been familiar with it from the outside. I've seen it when passing by since it is close to my school and I've used the outside bookdrop to leave public library books that have accidently been returned to my school library. But I'd never taken a tour of it or spoken to anyone about it in detail. This is a bit embarrassing since I have worked over the phone with Sandy, the branch manager, to set up programs with our school. She has invited our students to attend walking field trip/puppet shows in nearby Rey Park. Unfortunately, most of our field trips have been cancelled by administration for one legitamate reason or another, such as testing or inclement weather. Since it is difficult to get the numbers needed to keep funding the puppet shows, they will not be on the West Tampa branch's calendar for next year. It is too hard to coordinate with the Hillsborough County Schools' calendar since it changes quite a bit, even after the school year has begun, and there are not enough community members at home during the day to attend. This will be a hard hit to the small branch's programs since proving viability is so important to libraries and their communities right now.

I think what surprised me the most was how tiny, but how well used this library is in its community. I asked for and received a copy of their latest circulation stats. (December is what she had available to give me.) There were thousands of materials used and checked out, though Spanish materials' checkout was only about three hundred. I thought that number would be higher. I made a mental note to be sure to promote the public library more often to my ELL students since their reading levels are generally low.
What most impressed me was how well the library is run by this stretched-thin staff. They have a lot of responsibility and work to do. They try to keep three people there at all times to cover the needs of their patrons and still be able to take their lunches. What most concerned me was to hear, once again, how much funding is being cut and how it is affecting purchases, staff, programs, and services in our libraries. With all the cuts that are being made in government nowadays, I hope someone wakes up soon and realizes how much more we are going to need our libraries in the future than ever before. It is still one of the few places where folks can go for something free.

This visit helped me to compare and contrast the public library with my school library. It was interesting to learn more about the funding, the lack thereof and how it affects all areas of the library. I found it also interesting that they have Horizons as their checkout system just like my school. At least for now. I've just learned that our schools are upgrading to Symphony, though I don't know much about it at this time. I continue to come away with a great feeling about our work. I feel that all librarians are a tight-knit group, working to support one another. There is also a concern and caring for the community they serve. It has only served to enforce my views of how important our libraries are.