Maury Maverick, Jr. Library

• Approximately 40,000 items
• The opening day materials budget is $750,000 for materials, including books, magazines, newspapers, videos, DVD's and CD's. Approximately 40% of the collection materials will be for children and young adults.
• Materials in Spanish, and audio, video, DVD and CD.
• View a list of our periodical holdings.

The Name

Native San Antonian Maury Maverick, Jr. was related to a victim of the Boston Massacre. Another Maverick was a signatory to the Texas Declaration of Independence; that Maverick gave his name to unbranded cattle and nonconformist individuals. Maury Maverick, Jr. lived up to the family tradition. He was an attorney, a Texas state legislator, and a long-time columnist for the San Antonio Express-News. He served in the Marines during World War II, returning to San Antonio to receive a law degree from St. Mary's University in 1949. As a state legislator, he helped defeat a bill that would have mandated the death penalty for defendants convicted of being members of the Communist Party. As an attorney, he won a landmark Supreme Court case when he defended a San Antonio bookseller who had been accused of having seditious materials in his house, including works by Pope John XXIII, Jean Paul Sartre, and Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. After accepting a position as a columnist for the Express-News in 1980, Maverick gradually withdrew from the practice of law to devote more time to writing. He died on January 28, 2003, at the age of 82.

Architects/Contractors

• Alamo Architects, San Antonio, Texas
• General Contractor: Wallace L. Boldt

Financing

• 1999 Bond Election: $2,812,418
• Certificate of Obligation funds: $527,000

Construction Schedule

• Groundbreaking: July 24, 2004
• Grand Opening: February 18, 2006

The Site

Mystic Park across from Nani Falcone Park

Maverick Branch Library and Fire Station No. 49 are located on Mystic Park just off the intersection of Mystic Park and Bandera Road, north of Guilbeau Road. Across the street, Nani Falcone Park currently under development.

The fire station and library are located on the same site, but function as autonomous facilities and as such have separate entries and exits. The goal is to make the two facilities compatible in design while maintaining their autonomy of function and image. The site plan locates the fire station apparatus room for the best views when trucks are exiting the station. The library is located adjacent to, and integrated with, the major landscape feature of the site, a grove of large trees in the northwest corner.

Maverick Library is approximately 15,000 square feet. It can seat 128, which includes tables, computers, lounge area, quiet study room. It has 20 employees, including 3 adult services librarians and 2 children's librarians. The branch has 18 public-access computers for adults, 3 for children, and 4 library catalog computers. It has 980 square feet of meeting room space, which includes 1 large meeting room with a capacity of 78 and 2 small conference/quiet study rooms. The library has 84 parking spaces, 5 of which are designated handicapped parking spaces; parking is located in the rear, diminishing its impact from the street and park.

Services

This new library offers full services including:

• access to the Internet and word-processing
• children's materials and programs (including the annual Summer Reading Program)
• services for young adults and senior citizens
• comfortable reading areas

The Art

The city's Design Enhancement Program is given unique expression in this project by incorporating it into the design of the building, as opposed to commissioning a free-standing art piece. To accomplish this, a design enhancement committee was formed and selected local artist Henry Rayburn. Working closely with the design team, Mr. Rayburn has developed a concept for the design enhancement that builds on and elaborates the architects' early design ideas while bringing his own talents and experience with collages and artistic use of letterforms to the design. Rayburn's design successfully expresses the combination of the physical structure of the building and the library's goal of developing an interaction with the natural park built across the street.

• Northwest part of San Antonio and Bexar County.
• Located in City Council District 7 and 8.
• Serves schools in the Northside Independent School District