West Villages Improvement District: Library Opens To Fanfare, Big crowd checks out new Venice library on first day

Larry Evans
Venice Gondolier Sun

More than 1,500 people turned out Dec 15 for the opening of the new William H. Jervey Jr. Venice Public Library.

"This is the greatest day of my life," Jervey told an audience of about 500 people who came at 9 a.m. for an opening ceremony and ribbon-cutting.

Most of that crowd filled all 330 chairs in an open-sided white tent in front of the library. Other people stood shoulder-to-shoulder just under the protective tent, while others stood in a light rain.

By noon, 1465 people had walked through the double glass doors of the library. Others arrived throughout the afternoon.

Jervey, a philanthropist who lives in Venice, told the audience he was an almost daily visitor to the former library building that was on the same site at 300 N Nokomis Ave., from 1965 until 2017 after Sarasota County officials determined the building had a mold problem.

"I loved that old library" and, like hundreds of other city residents, he opposed the decision to tear it down.

He told the crowd that, after a recent advance tour of the gleaming, new, $8.8 million library, he now has a different opinion: "I think this might be the ultimate lemons-to-lemonade story."

Jervey was a college professor who retired in his 30s to devote full time to investing.

When county officials two years ago resisted public pressure and said the Venice branch library would be replaced, Jervey donated $1 million to the project. He did so, he has said, because, beginning as a child in his native Hawaii, he has been a lifelong user of public libraries - which he credits for his financial success.

He expected nothing in return for that gift, but the county government responded by naming the building for him.

Sarabeth A. Kalajian, the county's director of libraries and historical resources, said during opening remarks that the Venice library "has always been a community hub" that brings together people regardless of any differences they have.

There is a large, colorful section for children, as well as a separate story-time room.

"This is just beautiful. The kids are really going to enjoy coming here," Casey Clinch said as she walked through with her husband, Jim, and their children Cora and Casey.

The facility also has a teen center.

Other sections of the library include: a community conference room that seats 135-people; a Friends of the Library bookstore; a reading garden; and a display near the entrance way that honors the late Walter Farley, who wrote the children's classic "Black Stallion" and was a founder of the original Venice Public Library.

A large compass rose is among the design features that create a colorful place.

Floor-to-ceiling arched and tinted windows, as well as a skylight over the center of the main room,bate the library in natural light.

Awaiting funding are solar panels for the room that will make the library powered by the sun. Under way is a $250,000 fund drive called "Light Up Our Library".

There are electric-car-charging stations in the parking lot.

The library was designed by Sweet Sparkman Associates and constructed by Ajax/Tandem Construction.

Architect Todd M. Sweet stood quietly Saturday and listened as hundreds of people came into the library, milled around and used words like "wonderful," "spectacular" and "beautiful" when voicing their first impressions.

Sweet said designing the Venice library has been a rewarding professional experience because there was "so much involvement by people in the community and so many people were interested" in voicing their opinions about what the library should include and how it should look. He said many public workshops and meetings were held before his architectural firm sat down at the drawing board.

That could be both good and bad from an architect's perspective, right?

"No, it's all good," Sweet said.

Jervey wore a yellow baseball cap emblazoned with the word "Venice".

"We have created a wonderful, wonderful library" because Sweet "listened to what the people of Venice wanted," Jervey said during his opening remarks.

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate