WESLEY CHAPEL — A new chapter for Pasco County’s library system officially began July 21 as the Wesley Chapel Library in Seven Oaks celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting that drew a large crowd of county leaders, community members and one surprised family.
The guest of honor, former Pasco County Commissioner and Seven Oaks resident Mike Moore, was caught off guard by the unveiling of the Mike and Lauren Moore Family Room.
Moore played an integral role in fast-tracking the project to get the library funded and completed ahead of schedule.
“It’s oftentimes in life we forget to give credit where credit is due,” said Commissioner Seth Weightman, who succeeded Moore as the District 2 commissioner representing most of Wesley Chapel. “The credit for this facility goes truly not just to the board, but to Mike Moore and his family.”
Family members, including Moore’s mother, Alice, son Aiden and daughter Aubrey were on hand for the tribute.
“I’m a little choked up,” Moore said. “What a great asset for this community.”
Moore said he spent countless hours in libraries growing up, reading magazines, books and simply spending time there. Seeing another generation embrace the Wesley Chapel branch — including spending time in the room now bearing his name — made the dedication all the more meaningful.
“People are going to be able to come here, hang out and gather,” Moore said. “There’s going to be a lot of great events here.”
The 13,000-square-foot library at 27531 Mystic Oak Blvd., adjacent to Seven Oaks Elementary School, has quickly become one of the county’s busiest branches since opening in late February.
It has already welcomed more than 32,000 visitors, checked out more than 50,000 items and issued more than 3,000 library cards, according to county officials.
That is emblematic of a larger trend across the county.
“There are a little over 650,000 residents in Pasco County,” Library Director Sean McGarvey said. “We are about halfway through the year and already in our libraries we have already had 650,000 visits.”
More than 100 children and family members attend Story Time every week. In fact, the opening ceremony had to end promptly to make room for more than a dozen families eager for a scheduled presentation of “Moana.”
Perhaps the most telling statistic: according to library staff, people are waiting outside the Wesley Chapel Library doors every morning before the library even opens.
The numbers do not surprise McGarvey, who said community enthusiasm was cresting long before the doors ever opened.
“When people are telling you, ‘We’d love to see this, we’d love to have that,’ that means they care about what’s happening,” McGarvey said.
Weightman framed the day as an example of Pasco’s transformation from an older, more rural community to a fast-growing destination for families. He said the county’s average resident age has dropped by roughly two decades over the past several years as young families have flocked to the county, creating demand for amenities like libraries, parks and children’s programming.
The Seven Oaks facility includes children’s areas, four reservable study rooms, a community meeting room, rotating exhibits from local artists and a mobile makerspace that will rotate the best of the county’s other libraries, like woodworking and pottery to music recording and gardening programs.
And McGarvey also signaled out the large outdoor area, which county officials hope will eventually host concerts, author talks and other events. The county is pursuing grant funding to activate the space seasonally.
“This place shows what a library can be for a neighborhood,” McGarvey said.