From 1963 to 1972, activists established a library subcommittee to improve library service in Broward County. The report generated by the committee received wide media attention and was supported by County Commissioner Robert Hubener. On January 9, 1973, the Broward County Commission approved the establishment of a library system. The system began issuing borrower cards on June 17, 1974, for 270,000 items. There were four branches: Fort Lauderdale, Riverland, Mizell, and Hollywood. During the first year, more libraries joined the system; also, that year, the Friends of the Broward County Library were formed. Over the following three decades, many of the municipalities in Broward County elected to join the library system. These included Lauderhill, Hallandale, Dania Beach, Margate, Sunrise, Deerfield Beach, North Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach. Starting in 1978, library director Cecil Beach oversaw the planning and construction of the system's flagship branch, the Main Library. In 1980, the construction of the Main Library was funded. The cost of the Main Library went up from $20.5 to $42 million, in part because of inflation. Library-system director Cecil Beach was involved in all phases of the Main Library project, from planning to completion. In 1984, the Main Library opened. In 1982, the Broward Public Library Foundation was established as a 501 charitable organization supporting the library system. In 1983, the SouthRegional Library located on the South Campus of Broward Community College became the first joint-use public-college library in the State of Florida. The library system was named "Library of the Year" in 1996 by Library Journal and Gale Research. At that time, the library held more than three million items, and had over 10 million visitors a year. Ongoing construction, including that funded by a 1999 bond issue, has resulted in the current total of 38 branch libraries in addition to the eight-story Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The Main Library also houses the Florida Center for the Book, the Bienes Museum of the Modern Book, and a public fine-arts exhibition center. Kelvin Watson was appointed as library-system director in 2017.
On October 26, 2002, the Broward County Library opened the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, located at 2650 Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The 60,000-square-foot facility has a 300-seat auditorium, 5,000-square-foot art gallery, and Small Business Resource Center. Since its opening, the Center has hosted more than 38 major exhibits and served more than 895,000 customers.
