ACLD Celebrates It's 25th Anniversary

ACLD Headquarters Library alcove display show highlights through the years.

Unbelievable, but true: the Alachua County Library District chose April 1st--also known as April Fool's Day--as it's first day of operation. It was in 1986 when the Santa Fe Regional Library became the Alachua County Library District and its own independent taxing district. A couple of county libraries joined together; other libraries were incorporated or built to expand service; construction of the Headquarters Library began in 1989, then opened February 2, 1991; and the library district continues to grow with the additional branch building renovations, bookmobile service, and construction of a new library.


Considering its success, the history of the ACLD has been anything but foolish. Its fiscal strength, supporting organizations and volunteers, and acquisition of resources and event development for the many communities it serves has helped Alachua County even achieve a variety of accomplishments and additional notoriety by being named one of the nation's 100 Best Communities for Young People by America's Promise Alliance.


From a design perspective, it wasn't until 2005 that the Library District established its own brand logo with a tagline: “thinking outside the book”. Prior to that, they had been using the generic international library logo, as seen in my earlier blog entry.


To let patrons know that the library district was celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Headquarters Library installed a display to catch their eyes...a timeline which featured a single highlight from almost each of the 25 years. Peppered alongside the ACLD highlights were additional highlights from the world of culture, politics, and science and technology. The display filled up quickly with the multitude of highlights, and we enjoy the sight of seeing people stopping to linger over the potpourri of things to read. 


I liken the display presentation to the result of a big wind storm that blew a bunch of papers up on the wall. But as long as people find the content interesting to read, then I'm happy enough to know that they've been entertained, learned something new, and hopefully have come to appreciate the library all the more for its many accomplishments and dedication to serving the community.