One Millionth Customer at University Park Branch Library!

On March 30, the one millionth customer walked through the doors of the University Park Branch of the Jacksonville Public Library. Anjill Herron and her son, Kaleb Herron, were presented with a gift basket provided by the Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library and an anonymous donor. The gifts included a membership in the Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library.

Located in a remodeled K-Mart building near the intersection of University Boulevard North and Fort Caroline Road, the University Park Library opened in October 2004. During the four and a half years it took to reach the milestone of serving one million customers, this library branch has become a community hub in the Arlington area providing free meeting space for meetings and programs of nonprofit community and government organizations. Some of the groups that have provided programs include AARP income tax preparation, Greater Arlington and Beaches Vision Plan, U.S. Census employment recruitment, Jacksonville Human Rights Commission Study Circles and numerous homeowners and neighborhood associations.

The library itself provides a wide variety of its own children’s and teen programming. These programs have included storytimes, summer reading programs, Hispanic heritage festivals, Native American heritage festivals, Black History, movie nights, teen art contests, Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, Mother and Daughter Self-Defense, Stocks to Study and many more.

Free computer access to the Internet and to word processing programs are also available. Customers can bring their laptop computers to the library to use wireless Internet access. The branch offers free checkout of not only print materials but also books on CD, CD music, DVD movies, DVD documentaries and DVD nonfiction. Reference and children’s librarians are always on hand to assist customers in finding the materials they need for recreation, education or information purposes.