Congressman donates $1M to Longboat library project, gets naming rights

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, is the sole million-dollar donor to the collaborative project between Sarasota County and Longboat Key to build a combination library and community space on the island municipality's Town Center Geen. 

Announced hours after Sarasota County Commissioners approved an agreement that would allow naming rights for the library to go to the million-dollar donor, the town confirmed Wednesday that donor was Buchanan, who has represented the region in Congress since 2007. That region has shifted over the years, and now includes nearly all of Manatee County, a little bit of southern Hillsborough and none in Sarasota.

Buchanan and his wife, Sandy, have lived in Longboat Key for four decades.