Editing Lighthouse Point, Florida (section)

== Lighthouse Point Library ==

Mission Statement: The Doreen Gauthier Lighthouse Point Library was established (1965) for the purpose of providing community members of all ages with informational, recreational, cultural, and educational enrichment through access to print materials, digital resources, current technologies, services, programs, and a professional library staff.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lighthouse Point Library: Location and Mission Statement|url=https://lighthousepointlibrary.com/community/location-and-staff/}}</ref><ref>Cavallaro, Jeanne F., "Lighthouse Point Library" (1990). Digital Collection - Florida Studies Center Publications. Paper 90.
http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/flstud_pub/90</ref><ref>Michael d’Oliveira. 2015. “Lighthouse Point Library’s History Is One of Change, Advancement.” ''Pelican, The'' (Pompano Beach, FL), January 23.</ref>

The first part-time library was a small room in the Beacon Light Shopping Center where the owner gave this area rent free for three months as a gesture of goodwill.<ref name="LHPL">{{Cite web|title=Lighthouse Point Library|url= https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/fl_library_history/49/}}</ref> The branch began building its collection with duplicate copies of titles from Pompano and Deerfield Beach Libraries, as well as donations from the general public.<ref name="LHPL"/> On March 30, 1965, a glamorous Library Ball was held, with the Lighthouse Point Bank underwriting the cost of the event as well as cosponsoring the affair. The event raised over $5,000.<ref name="LHPL"/> By 1966 the library owned more than 3,000 items, and the tradition of having a Library Ball was continued annually from 1966 to 1971.<ref name="LHPL"/> In January 1968 a lease was signed for a rental of two empty stores in the Venetian Isles Shopping Center, and by this point the library had 921 members.<ref name="LHPL"/> Circulation grew from 314 books in 1965 to over 10,000 books in 1968.<ref name="LHPL"/> In 1972, the Library began to function under the jurisdiction of the City of Lighthouse Point.<ref name="LHPL"/> In 1984, the [[Publix]] in the Venetian Sopping center announced its plan to take over the entire shopping area, and the contents of the library was moved into a huge trailed unit in November 1985 and stored on the grounds of the Trinity United Methodist Church.<ref name="LHPL"/> The city commission pitched an idea to build a complex with the library as a focal point, and in the meantime library staff worked out of the storage unit.<ref name="LHPL"/> It wasn't until May 1987 that the move into the current permanent library began with over 20,000 items and more than 7,000 library memberships.<ref name="LHPL"/>

The library has a print collection of over 40,000 circulating titles, patron wifi access, public computers, a fax machine, scanning and printing, AWE Kids Learning Stations, Overdrive eBooks and streaming audio-books, access to the Florida Electronic Library and digital research databases, audio books on CD, DVDs, magazines and newspapers, study rooms (by appointment), and exam proctoring (by appointment only).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lighthouse Point Library|url=https://lighthousepointlibrary.com/community/get-lhp-card/}}</ref>