Thomas Branigan Memorial Library

Infobox_Library
library_name = Thomas Branigan Memorial Library
library_
location = 200 E. Picacho Avenue, Las Cruces, New Mexico
coordinates =
established = 1935
collection_size = 160,000 Rp|9
annual_circulation = 428,498 Rp|10
pop_served = 86,028 (legal service area)
170,500 (total served) Rp|2
members = 77,761 Rp|10
budget = $2,238,832 Rp|6
director = Kathleen Teaze
num_employees = 35 FTEcite paper
title = Thomas Branigan Memorial Library: 2005 New Mexico Public Library Annual Report
publisher = City of Las Cruces
url = http://library.las-cruces.org/tbmlannualreport05.pdf
format = PDF
accessdate = 2008-06-20] Rp|4
website = http://library.las-cruces.org/

Thomas Branigan Memorial Library is the public library serving Las Cruces, New Mexico.

History

The library was founded in 1935 and a library building constructed at 106 W. Hadley (now 501 N. Main Street) as the result of a bequest from Mrs. Alice Branigan in memory of her husband Capt. Thomas Branigan.Rp|68-69cite book
title=Thomas Branigan Memorial Library: A History 1935-1977
year= 1977
month= February
publisher=no publisher
oclc=4755777] Rp|1Its immediate predecessor was the Woman's Improvement Association library founded in 1924; this library was disbanded in 1935 when the Branigan library opened and its collection became the core of the Branigan collection. Rp|1

The current 36,800 square foot Rp|1 library building at 200 E. Picacho Avenue was constructed in 1979cite book
last= Harris
first= Linda G.
title= One Book at a Time: The History of the Library in New Mexico
origyear= 1998
publisher= New Mexico Library Foundation
location= Albuquerque, NM
isbn= 9781887045032
oclc= 38324662] Rp|93on the site of the former Lucero School (1942-1963).cite book
last=Foreshaw
first=Louise
coauthors=Pat Greathouse
title=Our First 25 Years: 1976-2001
year=2001
month=November
publisher=Friends of the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library
location=Las Cruces, NM
oclc=50158282] Rp|2The architects were Dean and Hunt Associates Ltd of Albuquerque. The building was dedicated December 9, 1979 The 1935 library building is now the Branigan Cultural Center Rp|8 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 1979 library was constructed in two floors, with the collection on the first floor and offices and work areas on the second floor. Beginning in 2008 part of the collection was moved to the second floor. [cite web
url= http://library.las-cruces.org/move/index.html
title= TBML's Big Move!
accessdate= 2008-06-20
publisher= City of Las Cruces] The library is running out of space and is looking at plans for expansion and the opening of branch libraries. [cite paper
author = Studio D-Hidell
title = Thomas Branigan Public Library
publisher = City of Las Cruces
date = 2007-01-07
url = http://www.las-cruces.org/PDFs/Slide%20Library%20Master%20Plan.pdf
format = PDF
id =
accessdate = 2008-06-20] [cite paper
author = Studio D-Hidell
title = Thomas Branigan Public Library: Space Needs and Master Plan
publisher = City of Las Cruces
date = 2007-01-08
url = http://las-cruces.org/PDFs/Final%20Report%20Library%20Space%20Needs.pdf
format = PDF
id =
accessdate = 2008-07-25]

Carol A. Brey-Casiano, the Library Director from 1996 to 2000, was president of the American Library Association for 2004–2005. [cite journal
year = 2003
month = June–July
title = Brey-Casiano elected president; Switzer is new treasurer. (News Fronts ALA)
journal = American Libraries
volume = 34
issue = 6
pages = 8
publisher = American Library Association
issn = 0002-9769 ]

Services

Library cards are free to residents of Doña Ana County. Card holders can check out book, audio books, compact discs, videos, art prints, and magazines.cite web
url= http://library.las-cruces.org/libinfo.html
title= Thomas Branigan Memorial Library: Library Information
accessdate= 2008-06-20
publisher= City of Las Cruces]

Summer Reading Programs have been running since 1972Rp|2 and attract bout 600 to 800 children each year. A homebound delivery program began in 1973. Rp|2 Two bookmobiles were purchased in 1975 and service continued until 2008 when they were replaced by a books-by-mail program.cite news
first = S. Derrickson
last = Moore
title = Read all about it: Myriad summer programs at Branigan Library encourage picking up a good book
work = Las Cruces Sun-News
id = ISSN|1081-2172
date = 2008-06-08]

Regular art exhibits are held in the Terrace Gallery on the library's second floor.

The library's weekly news column, "Branigan Book Notes", appears on Sundays in Las Cruces Sun-News, and a monthly column, "Greater Words & Things", appears monthly in "The Ink", a free tabloid covering the arts.

Notes