Charles J. Fendig Public Library

Tampa was booming in the 1920s and Beach Park was coming alive with its Mediterranean style houses, but everything stopped in the 1930s when the Great Depression hit the country. While there are plenty of non-fiction titles available relating to this time period, you can check out the Florida-centric title, 𝘉𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘯: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 1920𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 by Christopher Knowlton. You can check out the book either in physical or digital form at ow.ly/aFXV50YMMJL.

Both of the houses in this picture still exist today!

[Image: New Mediterranean Revival-style residences at 5013 and 5015 Shore Crest Circle in Beach Park: Tampa, Fla., (1926) Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection, PA 4470]

This week is National Library Week! The theme this year is "Find Your Joy!" and we thought it'd be fun to look back at a joyous celebration at one of our branches in 1983! These photos display a National Library Week celebration at the Peninsular Branch Library, now known as the Charles J. Fendig Public Library. In the first photo, librarian Marsha Pollak poses outside the library with a sign displaying open house information for visitors. The second photograph shows a local school band performing inside the library. The final photo shows the refreshments offered at the celebration for our wonderful library visitors.

There are plenty more historical photographs in our Library History Collection. You can check out that collection at DigitalCollections.HCPLC.org. Happy Library Week!

Explore your creative side, master the art of writing in cursive, or watch a fun movie for free at our libraries this upcoming week.

Join us for these events and discover more at HCPLC.org/Events.

Gardeners learned some practical tips and tricks to start their own personal garden from our partners at the Hillsborough County Extension- Florida-Friendly Landscaping Program in our recent gardening workshop at the Charles J. Fendig Public Library.

Become a green thumb with our gardening workshops happening at your nearest library. Find the next one at HCPLC.org/GardeningWorkshops.

We had a splash of fun with The Color Express at the Charles J. Fendig Public Library in a recent canvas painting program where artists made their own versions of a Van Gogh piece.

Create and learn at our programs happening at a library near you. Find more at HCPLC.org/Events.

The following Story Time programs have been cancelled at the Charles J. Fendig Public Library:

• Baby Time - Thursday, January 15 at 10:15 a.m.
• Family Story Time - Thursday, January 15 at 11 a.m.

Attend a program at a different location: HCPLC.org/StoryTime
Access programs on-demand from anywhere: YouTube.com/TampaHillsLib

These felt projects were looking sharp in our recent Needle Felting program at the Charles J. Fendig Public Library.

Discover more programs that unleash your creative side at HCPLC.org/Events.

The Peninsular Branch Library opened on this day 65 years ago! Originally located in a rented storefront at 3837 Neptune Street, by 1968 this location had the highest circulation of any of the city’s seven branch libraries. A new 12,000 sq. ft library replaced it in December of 1968 and received more renovations in the early '90s.

The library was renamed the Charles J. Fendig Public Library in 2001, honoring of former chairman of the Tampa Public Library Board.

Check out more library history found in our Digital Collections at DigitalCollections.HCPLC.org.

Fresh for fall, these festive and fun pumpkins were decorated in lavishly literary style by library staff.

Our expressive bookmakers at the Charles J. Fendig Public Library finished a 5 week program, in partnership with the Tampa Museum of Art, Inc., where they created their own artistically inspired books.

Discover programs happening near you at HCPLC.org/Events.

A lot of cutting, folding, and sticking of papers and other materials took place at our Expressive Bookmaking program, in partnership with the Tampa Museum of Art, Inc., at the Charles J. Fendig Public Library, where bookmakers crafted their own books in their personal style.

Discover programs happening near you at HCPLC.org/Events.