Florida: The New Fort Myers Regional Library Scheduled to Open Next Week

The new Fort Meyer Regional Library will open to the public for the first time on Wednesday, December 11, 2013. 
The new $20 million facility is a joint venture between the City of Fort Myers and the Lee County, FL government.
From the Lee County, FL Gov:

This new library nearly triples the size of the previous one-story library. The library located at 2450 First Street will be a vibrant east end anchor in the downtown Fort Myers River District. This library is one of 13 libraries in the Lee County Library System, a department of Lee County government.
The library campus comprises two buildings, public plazas and multipurpose spaces, which provides a venue for Library-sponsored and other downtown events. The north library building features two stories, materials collection of more than 165,500 items (which includes books, books on CD, DVDs, music CDs, kits and many special collections), extensive use of glass, outdoor reading deck, separate adult, teen and youth reading areas as well as an extensive genealogy collection housed in its own room.
Featured technology in the building includes Wi-Fi, 82 public Internet access computers, six self- checkout stations, and an automated materials handling system for returned materials. The library system’s Telephone Reference Call Center service is also based in this building.
The south building houses the library system’s Talking Books Library and Books-by-Mail service, whose functions are ongoing. The south building located at 1651 Lee St. will offer meeting rooms for public use and be available for booking reservations beginning on Jan. 11, 2014.
“The campus will include complementary buildings with rich resources and outdoor public spaces for people in the community to read, visit, enjoy presentations, exhibits and markets,” says Sheldon Kaye, Lee County Library System Director.
The outdoor plaza areas offers access to free Wi-Fi, a variety of seating options, open green space, a shaded amphitheater and a water feature with art sculpture. The buildings are eligible for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification meaning they were planned to reduce environmental impacts during the design, construction, operations and management of the buildings.

Learn More: Access the New Fort Myers Regional Library FAQ (PDF)
See Also: Design and Construction Information, Photos
UPDATE: December 11: Take a Video Tour of the New Library

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Libraries, Management and Leadership, News